Phoenix
by Inner Sanctuary
Summary: You're supposed to be able to trust your family with your life. That's what I always believed, and that's what I always did. Look where that got me. This is the first in the Phoenix trilogy I have planned out, so enjoy! Also, read the 'Updating Status' I put on my profile please. Thank you.(:
1. Chapter 1

My mother is the Mockingjay. Her flames live within me. My father's dandelion blooms in the flames, rising out of the ashes like a Phoenix. I am their daughter, their Phoenix, their beloved Magnolia Lae Mellark.

My brother has taken after my mother, letting the flames engulf the beauty in life. The days that we spent playing in the meadow are gone forever, only to be replaced by my fear of him. Maybe it's my fear _for _him.

My parents have nightmares daily. If they aren't together when they are remembering, it takes hours to calm them down. Most of the nightmares my mother has revolve around my dead aunt, Primrose Everdeen. Whenever she passes by a picture of blonde little girl in the house she breaks down into a fit of sobs screaming her name.

When I was younger and my mother had one of her breakdowns I would always ask my father why she was crying. He would always answer the same thing with tears in his eyes. "She's remembering, sweety. Why don't you and Aramis go and play outside?" I've grown too old for that answer anymore.

Throughout all of this, my father has stayed rock solid, anchoring my mother to earth. I can't say that I've done the same.

It has been a long time since I have been able to calm my mother down; I simply do not contain the patience to do so. Whenever I see her in such a state it is impossible for me to not break down as well. The only ones who can ever really calm her down are my father, my brother, and Haymitch. She will get worse if it is anyone else.

I have grown used to my mother panicking even more when I am the one trying to calm her down; Haymitch has told me about how scared she was when carrying me while he was in one of his drunk stupors.

My father has become the one person who I have found the means to confide in and trust. I am 16 but whenever I run into trouble there is still nothing I want more than to run back into his arms so he can comfort me. He is not only my mother's anchor to earth and her sanity, but my one and only salvation.

Despite our differences, my family is close. My father keeps us together, and I'm almost sure that our family would be crashing to the ground and burning without him. We know everything about each other, everything. My parents were in the Hunger Games and were almost killed one more than one occasion. Knowing about the things that they went through and have nightmares about scares me sometimes, but like my father I have chosen to try and get past it. He has set an example that I try to follow in every aspect of my life.

I remember hearing him telling me a quote from the days before the disasters. _"Times change. People don't." _He couldn't have said it better.

* * *

"Mags, can you get Haymitch?" My father says in a strained voice from upstairs using my nickname. I raise my head in curiosity as he says, "I need some help calming your mother down. Can you hurry?"

"Alright dad!" I shout and I rush out the front door into the street. I sprint to Haymitch's door and rap my knuckles against the hard wood. Nobody answers, so I look around impatiently. I hear a loud groan emitting from the alley next to his house and I head over, I myself groaning. I see him sulking in a pile of garbage, bottle of alcohol in hand. "Haymitch, mom needs you. She's having one of her break downs again, and it's bad this time." I say, impatience and annoyance written all over my face.

"Slow down, sweetheart. She can wait a little while. I just need a drink first." His voice is heavy and slurred, obviously drunk already. His breath reeks of the strong spirits; I can smell it from here.

I crouch down to his level and whisper, "Haymitch. I'm going to lift you to your feet, and if you put up a fight I will personally bash your skull in after I drag you over to help my mom. Now let's go."

"Just like your mother." He grumbles as I pull him to his feet. I pretend not to hear him as I sling his arm over my shoulder and start to drag him back to my house, trying not to think about when he last washed or where he has been. I shrug to readjust his grip on me and to clear my head. Since when did I ever care about getting dirty?

I throw open the door and shout, "Dad! I got Haymitch!"

Haymitch rubs his temple and says, "You sound like Effie when she has a microphone. The difference is you don't have a microphone, sweetheart."

I shake my head stubbornly and say, "You've just got a hangover. Now you had better not make me drag you up the stairs unless you want your head throbbing worse than it is now."

"I was right. You're just as unpleasant as your mother."

"You're not exactly perfect either." We finally make it up the stairs and we enter my parent's room. My dad is holding my mother down, saying soothing words as she screams and squirms in his grip.

"Finally. Now help me with her, but be careful. She still knows how to throw a decent punch."

Haymitch snorts and says, "So do I, Peeta. Unlike you I'm not afraid to throw one back."

I leave the room and head towards the meadow. It pains me whenever I hear her screams, it's almost as if I feel her pain. Not being able to help her only makes it worse.

I sit in the middle of the meadow cross-legged, closing my eyes blissfully. My parents had small moments like this only to have it stolen away from them, which is why I appreciate it that much more. I remember when my mother's break downs were less frequent, when she was able to play with my brother and I. Now we are too old for such things, yet I still yearn for her to hug me without the fear of me getting hurt.

"Are you okay?"I open my eyes and see my little brother, Aramis, looking at me with a concerned look on his face. It's amazing how sometimes my father's dandelion is able to shine through the flames I had once thought engulfed everything about him.

"Yea. Mom's having a break down. You can go home and help calm her down if you like."

"Nah, you need me more right now." He says, sitting down on the grass beside me.

I feel the need to respond, but I stay silent and close my eyes just as the breeze comes. My dark brown hair flows behind me and I enjoy the feeling of it tickling my scalp. It almost feels as if all my problems are being thrown to the wind, being blown away. Almost. Maybe Aramis is right; maybe I do need him right now.

* * *

_**I think I did a decent job on this. I'm happy with it, now I'm wondering if you guys like it?**_

_**Review, add to alerts, favourite, and PM me any suggestions. Thanks!**_

_**Bye!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**This first part here is a look into Mags's thoughts, so yea. Pretty deep stuff right here. I wrote it with a narrator voice in my head. :p I'm strange.**_

Family is everything. No one else will care about you or love you the way that they do. That's what everyone always says, that it's a big bad world out there. They're probably right. If the world was capable of having the Hunger Games, it must be full of wicked things. When I was a young girl, my mother would always tell me to never trust anyone except for my family. I'm not sure that I want to trust anyone, even my family, based on advice from a woman who's mental stability in itself is questionable.

My father would always agree with her though, so I went along. I believe him. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me; he's the dandelion in the spring. He simply knows what to say whenever anything is wrong. He has no reason to want to harm me. Others in the world might, though. I have done nothing wrong to anger anyone, though. If anyone wants to hurt me it will simply be because of who my parents are, and I'm strangely okay with that.

* * *

"Mags, we've got to go home now. It's getting dark and dad will start to worry about you." Aramis has always seemed like an older brother, even if he is younger than me by a couple of years.

I open my eyes and say, "Alright. You go on ahead, I'll catch up." His face is full of doubt and I can tell that he is about to say something to get me to come along, but I really do feel like being alone right now. That feeling has become more and more frequent over the years. "Go on, Aramis. I'll be fine. I know how to handle myself." It's true, I really do and he knows it. I've been around Haymitch when he was drunk far too many times to count, and he tends to be the violent kind of drunk. My father wanted me to be safe after I came home with a black eye after making sure Haymitch was actually alive and had enough supplies to last him a while. He barely ever makes sure of that himself, it's sad really. To make a long story short, I had poked my head into his house to check on him and he had panicked. When a drunk victor panicks, they tend to swing a punch. Or several.

"Fine. Don't blame me if you get robbed on the way home." He says with a huff and starts heading back home. I can almost feel the intensity of the flames he leaves behind, trailing him wherever he goes.

"They'd have to be complete idiots to mess with me." I shout after him. He doesn't answer as he heads back home, avoiding as many people as possible. After that I sit there in the Meadow, silently watching an empty space in the distance. I don't know how long I stay like that, but when I finally pull myself back together it's completely dark and the streets are empty. I struggle into a standing position, my stiff, sleeping limbs tingling. I start walking back home, knowing that my father is going to be worried.

"Hey, look. If it isn't the Mockingjay's daughter." I hear a mocking voice behind me and turn to see a boy a few years older than me sidling over. He is followed by at least 3 other guys.

"What do you want?" I snap. His blonde hair is obvious even in the dim lighting conditions, but I am unable to get a very good look at his face. The only light I have to see by is coming from behind him, completely shadowing his face. The other boys stand facing the same way, their faces covered in shadows. "And why won't you show your faces? Are you afraid or something?"

"I'm not afraid," the boys snaps.

"Well would you look at that. Big boy has temper tantrums. Maybe you should go take a nap, you're probably just cranky. I could help you find your mommy so she can tuck you in."

He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and says, "You'd better watch your mouth, Mockingjay's daughter. It'd be a shame for you to lose it, especially when it's so pretty." His arm shoots out, cupping my face, squishing it together in his hand.

"I'm not afraid of you," I blurt out, knowing it's a complete and utter lie. I'm terrified right now, but I refuse to show it.

He grabs me tightly by the biceps and I feel my circulation start to get cut off. He pulls me close and whispers into my ear, "You should be, baby Mockingjay."

"You're underestimated me. That's a fatal mistake." I whisper back, and I knee him in the groin. He lets go of me as the air rapidly leaves his lungs all at once, and I start sprinting back home. Back to safety.

"What the hell are you doing? Get her!" I hear his voice behind me as his friends start to pursue me, their footsteps heavy and clumsy.

I pump my legs up and down even faster. I turn around and see that they are quickly gaining on me. I silently curse myself for getting so lazy and not training for a situation like this the way my father wanted and turn back around. I turn a sharp right and dive into an alleyway. I land in a pile of garbage and who knows what else. I try not to breathe in the horrible odors as I stay stark still, willing myself not to be found by them. My heart is in my throat and I can't help but feel a bit nauseous. I hear their footsteps run past me and I let out the breath I had been holding for a while now.

"Where did she go?" I hear one of the boys shout in the distance. I barely stop myself from snickering.

I stay there for at least a half an hour, waiting for them to go away. I hear snippets of their conversation:

"She is going to get it from Cameron!" I'm guessing that's the name of the creep who grabbed me.

"You can bet your ass on it."

"I can't believe she kneed him there!" Another boy had snickered.

"I'm hungry."

"Nobody cares."

"I care!"

"Shut the hell up! Both of you!"

I had just stopped listening to what they were saying after that; it gets old fast listening to people make empty threats to you when you're not even there.

After there had been silence for at least another half an hour, I slowly got up from my place in the heap of garbage and brushed myself off. Before I could turn around someone grabbed me from behind and held me tightly with one arm. With their free hand they held a serrated knife and I watched it as they slowly raised it up to my neck, poised to slit my throat.

"I've been looking for you, baby Mockingjay." They whisper into my ear and my blood runs cold through my veins.

_**SOMEONE'S GONNA GET IT! Sorry, I had to... Somebody out there is like WAY TO SPOIL THE MOMENT! JFAJSIEJIR**_

_**Anywayss... Review, add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions. Thanks!**_

_**Bye!**_


	3. Chapter 3

"How wonderful to see you again." I say calmly. I have modeled myself after my parents, trying to be as brave as them. I can't say that I have achieved it quite yet considering the thought of his knife against my throat sends shivers up my spine and makes my knees buckle. I'm scared out of my wits right now, and he hasn't even done anything. Yet.

"Can't say it's nice to see you, little Mockingjay. I'm upset that you don't know who I am." Cameron coos, a bit of false disappointment in his voice.

"I'm upset that you do know who I am."

"Think about it. Who wants your blood out there?"

"Everyone who has bad blood with my parents, people who I might have annoyed, where are you going with this?"

"Think of the Hunger Games. Who was your mom's number one enemy?"

"The Capitol's rules, the Gamemakers, as you've probably noticed I like to make lists."

"No, no, no, think of the other tributes."

"Cato," my answer is automatic. I remember my mother's description of him perfectly; you simply don't forget the description of a monster.

"He had siblings, little Mockingjay."

My eyes grow wide, then turn to slits. "You would be older if you were his brother. I'm not an idiot."

"I'm not saying I'm his brother. His siblings had kids. I'm saying that I'm his nephew. And I want revenge."

I scream shrilly and he quickly covers my mouth. "Shut up!" He barks, but I refuse. Cato already tried to kill my mother and now his nephew is trying to kill me; I can't say that I'm flattered.I bite his hand and he howls with fury. I sprint away from him down the extremely narrow alleyway. Dead end.

"Oh no..." I mutter over and over again, looking for a possible way out.

"You're going to reget that, little Mockingjay." He says wickedly from behind me. I hear his footsteps as he wades through the trash strewn about from my wrecklessness.

I look around frantically once more and I notice once again how narrow the alleyway is. I am able to touch both sides easily. I smile wickedly and place my hands and feet on each side of the alleyway. I alternate between using my arms and legs to work my way upwards like a spider. My muscles scream in protest and pain shoots up my limbs, spreading like wildfire. I ignore it as I work my way up, trying to escape the boy who wants my blood.

I hear his groans and his slow footsteps approaching the end of the alley. "What the hell?" I hear him say from directly below me. I reach the top of the building to my right which is thankfully only one story and it finally occurs to me, _How do I get onto the roof?_

"There you are, you little..." I hear him say below me. He's smarter than his uncle at least.

I don't acknowledge his words, trying to figure it out as my muscles tremble underneath my weight. I hear him start up after me and I grow desperate, thinking of how I could maybe pull myself onto the rooftop.

"Come here, baby Mockingjay. I won't hurt you. _That much."_

"I'll pass," I say, my voice strained from the effort of keeping myself suspended by my arms and legs. I strain my brain, working hard to think of a way to get to the rooftop. The boy's breaths get closer and closer, making me panic more and more. I'm scared half to death right now, but I can't acknowledge it at the moment; there's no time.

"I'm coming for you. Just stay put there..."

I smile as I finally think of a way to get out of there _without _killing myself. I brace my legs and move my right hand up to grip the top of the building and I take my left hand off of the wall. I quickly grab the top of the building with my left hand and tense my arms, readying them to hold my weight up for a few seconds. I quickly transfer my left leg to the right wall and stay there for a few seconds in a crouched position. I then hoist myself up, using my last reserves of strength and energy. I lay utterly exhausted there, flat on my back, breathing heavily.

"So the baby Mockingjay knows how to fly." I hear him say from the alleyway. Panic courses through me once again, putting new energy into my lifeless body. I spring up and look around. The top of a ladder just peeps over the edge of the other side of the roof and I run towards it, hopes soaring. I climb down as fast as my arms and legs can take me, joy and relief coursing through me, replacing the fear and panic. I jump down the rest of the way when I'm just a few feet above the ground. I take off running for home, for the safety of my father's arms. I'm halfway there when I hear a roar from the direction I had just come in and I speed up when I hear his crazed shouts from behind me. My blood curdles and I stumble over my feet, almost sending me crashing to the ground before I regain my balance at the last second. "I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE OUT FOR YOUR BLOOD, BABY MOCKINGJAY! I'M ONE OF MANY! WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO TO YOU WOULD SEEM LIKE A BLESSING IN COMPARISON TO WHAT OTHERS HUNGER FOR!"

* * *

"When I find the guy that tried to hurt my baby..."

"Dad, it was Cato's nephew. He'll probably be gone by morning if he's smart. Just leave him to Paylor. Besides, at least we know who he is."

"Paylor is a busy woman and would appreciate it if I got rid of a guy like that." My father answers angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"I knew I shouldn't have left you alone! You always get into trouble! If I hadn't left you alone then that sick monster never would have messed with you..." Aramis shouts, his voice full of hatred.

"No, Aramis. If you had been with me then he simply would have had two of the Mockingjay's children at his mercy." I say in almost a whisper, voice trembling as I think of that possibility. We probably wouldn't have gotten away with the two of us together; we would probably both be dead if he hadn't left without me.

I had told them the whole story from beginning to end in a monotone voice, even with no emotion. On the inside, I had been like a building collapsing in on itself. The only thing I decided to leave out for their sake was his last words to me. I begin to shake at the thought of them.

"Come here, my little Phoenix. Be strong," my father says, his voice softening as he finally lets go of his anger and wraps me in his arms. I break down and the tears come pouring out. I bury my face into my father's shirt and sob. "Let it all out," he prompts gently, and I do.

After a few minutes I hear feet shuffling and then a voice. "What's going on?" I lift my head and see my mother in the doorway to the kitchen in her nightgown, a concerned look on her face. Her hair is tousled and I can tell she has just gotten out of bed.

"Mom!" I say, reluctantly pulling away from my dad and rushing over to her, wrapping my arms around her.

After a moment hers go around me as well and she asks, "What happened?"

I don't want to repeat my story, and luckily I don't have to. Aramis tells her the story from beginning to end and with each word her grip on me gets tighter and tighter.

"Cato's _nephew?"_

"Yes, mom. It was Cato's nephew. He said so himself." I answer quietly.

"Well, you're safe from him now. You'll always be safe in our arms." My father says, wrapping me in his embrace as well. All traces of his anger have melted away.

"Thanks, mom. Thanks, dad. I love you both so much." I say, smiling as I am wrapped in their warmth. I just wish that I could live in this moment forever.

* * *

_**That line from Suzanne Collins was just way too good not to use right there because it describes it perfectly. You know I had to.(;**_

_**I'm not doing the disclaimer or anything because I'm posting this on a site called fanfiction and this is exactly that, a fanfiction. Just thought I'd let you guys know...(: Smiley faces at the end of a harsh sentence always make it better. :D I just overuse smileys...**_

_**Anyways... Review, add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions you might have for this story. Thanks!**_

_**See ya next time, guys. BLESS YO FACES. IF YOU SNEEZED WHILE READING THIS THEN BLESS YOU. :D**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Mags! Wake up!" Aramis's voice pierces through my subconscious but I ignore it. A few more minutes of sleep couldn't hurt. "Mags!" He says, louder this time and starts shaking my shoulder.

I finally pry my eyes open and groan loudly as I see his face hovering over me. "Wuttt?" I say, my voice slurred from sleep.

"It's Remembrance Day today, Mags. You have to get ready, it wouldn't be any good for us to be late."

"Oh..." I had forgotten about how that was today; I tend to overlook the big things. Remembrance Day is a sort of 'holiday', you could call it, that made us look back on past evils such as the Games and remember the fallen. We go over all of the major events in Panem's history and think about how we can avoid the mistakes, repeat the good times, things like that. They show the same footage _every year. _Everyone is required to go, and as the daughter of the Mockingjay, I'm expected to 'set an example.'

"Yea, hurry up. You've got 10 minutes until we leave." He says, smiling wickedly.

That sure wakes me up. I spring out of bed and quickly clean my teeth, shower, and dress. I'm down the stairs with a few minutes to spare.

"Proscrastination strikes again," my father says, tossing me a small buttered loaf of bread quickly followed my coat. I catch both and hold the still warm bread in between my teeth as I pull on my coat. Mom herds us out the door and I quickly eat my bread along the way, hair still wet.

I jog towards the recently constructed town square with the rest of my rushed family, peeking into each alleyway and constantly checking over my shoulder the whole time. I try to act normal whenever one of my family members glances at me with a worried look on their face, but I'm still scared out of my wits that Cato's nephew is going to jump out sometime and slit my throat. I unconsciously rub my neck and do a quick scan of the area once again; quite a few other people are surrounding us, and I somehow feel safer. He attacked at night while I was alone; he wouldn't dare do such a thing in broad daylight in front of everyone.

To be honest, I wouldn't have ever believed it to ever be possible to be so afraid of someone that you don't even know.

"Mr. and Mrs. Mellark! You're late!" The mayor hisses as we reach the back of the raised platform that they use as a stage. "You're supposed to be setting an example here!"

"Sorry, we got held up a bit." My father says, smiling as he nods his head towards me. I feel my face turn red in embarassment.

"It doesn't matter; you're here now! Come along, come along!" He ushers us towards a blood red velvet sofa. He gestures for us to sit and I sink into the plush cushions. I barely stop myself from jumping up, thinking of myself sinking so far that I would drown in the blood. It eventually stops going down so I relax my tensed muscles and my father wraps his arm around me, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Right. I'm safe next to him; he won't let anyone hurt me.

"What's wrong sweety?" He asks quietly as the mayor bounches over to the podium.

My eyes never leave District 12's 'beloved' mayor as I answer him. "Remembrance Day."

He gives a nod of understanding and leaves it at that as the mayor begins his long, boring speech. I'm always jumpy on Remembrance Day; I hate seeing the images of the Games and the Rebellion. Most of the images are of either wounded people or my parents. The Girl on Fire and the Boy with the Bread had more than a few 'toasty' scenes in their Hunger Games. Pun intended.

I have more than a few reasons to be more on guard than usual this year. Knowing that people are out for my blood simply because of my parents shakes a person up.

When the mayor finally finishes his speech, a screen rises from the stage. It begins showing the same images it does every year, and I feel my father tense as it shows his Hunger Games. My mother is running from fire balls being shot at her, barely managing to escape being burned to death.

They near the end of the Hunger Games when my father is being held prisoner by Cato. I tense when I see his face and almost break down on stage. I hear sharp intakes of breath from the rest of District 12 as Cato falls off of the Cornucopia to the mutts awaiting him and remember that I am being watched by all. I take my father's hand and his grip keeps tightening as they show the footage. He remembers these images daily; he never wanted a day dedicated to showing his worst fears.

After a few hours of watching, they take a short intermission for everyone to take a break and think about the things they just saw. I take it as a moment of freedom, of not having to see death everywhere.

"Dad? You can let go now." I prompt quietly.

"Hm? Oh, of course. Sorry Mags," he answers with a nervous laugh. He releases my hand and I shake it a bit, trying to get the blood to flow once more.

"Peeta? Peeta?" My mother says, confused. Oh no; she can't have one of her break downs here. Not in front of the whole District. Panic spreads like wildfire around here, and if they see the _Mockingjay _freaking out, then they will all freak out.

"It's okay, Katniss. I'm right here." My father says in a calm voice, trying to calm her down before she started screaming or thrashing around. He gathers her in his arms and cradles her there, speaking soothing words.

A look of relief floods over her face as he says something, but I'm not sure what he might have said to get her like that so fast.

"Mags? Where's Haymitch?" Aramis asks, knowing that I'm worrying about our mother and trying to get my mind away from it.

"Aramis, he's right-" I fumble as I look around and notice that he's nowhere to be seen. "What? I thought he was right over there..."

"I didn't see him at all during the whole showing so far, and I didn't see him when we got here either."

"Crazy drunk..." I mutter and I start scanning the crowd, looking for his grubby face.

"He's not here, Mags. Where could he be?"

"Probably passed out and wasted in an alleyway." I grumble as I give up trying to find him. With everyone moving around like this, it would be impossible to single out just one person.

"We have to find him, Mags."

"We don't have any time. There's only a few minutes left of intermission and we have to stay here, not go looking for the town drunk."

"But Mags-"

"But nothing, Aramis. We can't and we won't. End of story." It pains me to say such harsh words about Haymitch, but I can't let Aramis go and look for him when he needs to be here. Haymitch had taken a liking to Aramis since birth and even suggested the name for him. The two wouldn't be any closer now than they would be if they were related by blood.

"You just don't want me to find him cuz he likes me more than you! You hate him!" His words sting like a tracker jacker's venom, but I hold my ground. I love Haymitch like an uncle, don't get me wrong there. The thing is we have had quite a few, well, _disagreements _on quite a few things. Like, for instance, how much is an appropriate amount to drink at 3 in the morning.

"Aramis, you can't just leave now just for Haymitch. If he isn't here there are hundreds of possible explanations for why not." I say calmly. If I lose my temper with him then he'll just get worse.

"I'm going to go find him, you can't stop me."

"You're right, but I can sure as hell try." I grumble as I follow him off the stage and out of view of the rest of the District. A few security guards watch us lazily, but they know us. Everyone does.

Aramis is taller than me, despite the 2 year lead I have on him. Which makes pouncing on him all the more difficult for me.

He is thrown off balance and tumbles to the ground, surprised by my sudden attack. I grab his arms and hold them behind his back. I press his cheek into the ground roughly, barely keeping him in place with my light frame. "What the hell, Mags! Get off me! I have to find Haymitch!" He shouts like a madman.

"This is for your own good, Aramis. Haymitch can take care of himself, he's a victor. You don't need to go find him and take care of him everytime he gets wasted."

"Hey, Ms. Mellark! What do you think you're doing?!" One of the guards shouts, rushing towards us. Every other guard is quick to follow.

"No, he needs me! Now _get. Off!" _Aramis shouts, completely ignoring them all.

"We have to stay here and set an example for the District! We have responsibilities, Aramis! Duties to the public! We can't just abandon them every time somebody sulks in an alleyway with a bottle of spririts!" I shout back, also ignoring the guards.

Aramis makes a sound of frustration and starts bucking around on the ground, trying to throw me off. Unfortunately, he succeeds. I fly off of him, his strength giving me momentum the farther I go. I crash into the calves of a guard, sending him sprawling on top of me. I quickly push him off and scramble back to my feet. I eye Aramis and we begin to circle each other, our eyes never leaving each other. The guards watch us with great interest, hungry to know what we will do next.

"Aramis. Finnick. Mellark. I want you to march back up onto that stage right now, and pretend this never happened. You're _not _going to go find Haymitch; he knows how to handle himself. Now let's go."

"No." He answers simply, not even flinching as I use his full name.

"No? _No?_" I ask, laughing like a maniac. Maybe Cato wasn't that insane after all. "That wasn't a question, Aramis. Now get onto that stage, _now."_

"I'm not going to get back onto that stage until I find Haymitch, Mags. Deal with it."

"Oh-oh, oh yes you are. I will drag you kicking, screaming, thrashing, the whole big deal if I have to. But I'm getting you back up there whether you like it or not." I growl, voice low. I hear a few catcalls from the guards surrounding us, but I ignore them. Let them watch. I have nothing to hide.

"Aramis, Magnolia. Get up here. Now." I turn around to see my father onstage, looking down on us. His voice is stern and his expression rock hard. He fixes his cold, disapproving gaze upon me and I slide my eyes away in shame.

"Dad, I can explain-" Aramis begins, but our father cuts him off.

"I don't care about any explanations, Aramis. Now get up here before the Mayor starts wondering where you are."

I shuffle my feet towards the stairs, head hung in shame. I can't believe what has just come over me; that was the most vicious thing I had ever done to _anybody. _Let alone my own brother.

When Aramis and I reach the top of the stairs our father shoots a look at the guards that hadn't even bothered to intervene and we head back to our seats. I brush myself off and avoid looking into my father's eyes for fear of seeing his disappointed look.

Soon they begin to show more images and I have the courage to look at my father. His eyes are glued to the screen and he grinds his teeth together and I can tell he's working hard not to scream.

"It's okay, daddy." I say quietly, lips barely moving.

He looks at me with sad, yet shining eyes as I use the name I had called him as a little girl. He gives me a weak smile, then turns back towards the screen.

I stare off at an empty space in the distance, waiting for the footage to end. I sometimes tear my gaze away to check on the rest of my family, and I see that they are watching the screen intently. My father's jaw is set, the look on his face stern. Everyone else's expression is almost identical.

I begin to watch the screen again and my eyes immediately begin to water; they show a child being shot as Peacekeepers invade a house. I look away and don't take my eyes off of a fruit banner until it ends. The mayor gives one final speech and we are allowed to leave. Once I'm off the stage I rocket towards home, shutting my eyes at times, trying to escape the images in my head. I reach home and slam the door behind me, leaning my back against it and breathing heavily. I sink to the ground and hold my head in my hands. How could they show such an image? They show the same footage every year, and not once have I ever seen that.

* * *

_**NO. WAY. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it really is to her. Magnolia doesn't react well to change. She needs a stable environment around her in order to function properly. She tends to overreact when things change because she always likes them to stay the same as they always were in the first place. Just thought I'd explain my thoughts to you guys.(; Well, she doesn't really need the stable ENVIRONMENT, more of a constant. Like in science. I'm using science a lot in this... It's supposed to be my worst subject... D:**_

_**Well review, add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions. Thanks!**_

_**Bye! MCPIXEL MAKES SOOOOO MUCH SENSE...**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Mags? Mags?" My father's voice pierces through the door and he knocks fervently. I get up and open it sluggishly, not wanting to show my tear stained face.

"Finally," Aramis says, storming into the house and pushing me aside. It feels as if he has burned me on the arm in the exact area where he touched me. I watch him with a hurt, sad look on my face as he stomps loudly up the stairs to his room. He obviously hasn't been allowed to go looking for Haymitch.

"Mags, what's wrong?" My mother asks, closing the door behind her.

"Everything is wrong..." I mutter and go up to my room as well, not wanting to talk about it.

* * *

My mother brings my dinner up to my room that night and leaves it outside the door. I don't bother going to pick it up; I have no appetite after seeing a bullet rip straight through an innocent child's body.

I stay in there for hours on end, curled up on my bed in a fetal position. I gaze out my window, waiting for Cameron to come. I have a feeling that he is going to come back for me; revenge is a strong thing. Far too strong to control. The blood lust he demonstrated is stronger yet.

I watch the shadows of trees outside move, obviously thrown around by the wind. The moon is full tonight and brighter than I have ever seen it; it's just so beautiful. I am mesmerized by the beauty of it and watch, not moving a muscle or even tearing my gaze away for a second for fear of something happening if I were to just blink.

After several hours of dormancy, I am finally able to fall into a nightmare plagued sleep...

* * *

I have a gun in my hand, it's cold metal pressing into my hard, calloused skin. I point it at a small child; _the _child. I smile wickedly and pull the trigger and a satisfying _BANG! _fills the air. I watch blood blossom from where the bullet entered the child's torso, and laugh maliciously as the poor boy falls to the ground, a look of fear, pain, and surprise filling his face all at once.

* * *

I shoot up into a sitting position, cold beads of sweat breaking out on my forehead. I wipe them away and take in large gulps of air. I look around my room and when I see nothing wrong, I collapse back onto my back. I flip over and bury my face in my pillow and scream into it. The sound is slightly muffled, and it only encourages me. I scream even louder, and eventually sink my teeth into it. I bite down harder and harder until my mouth is numb, and finally release it. I quickly jump out of my bed and start pacing around the room for lack of something else to do.

Eventually I just go into an empty corner of my room and curl into a ball, retreating into myself. I've never been social with any of the other kids, I just did my best to blend with them. The nightmare I just had proved just how different from all of them I really am. I just sit there silently cradling my head in between my thighs and my torso for I don't even know how long. My eyelids grow heavy and I try to ward off sleep for as long as I can. I don't want to see those things again...

I am fighting a losing battle with sleep when the door to my room slowly opens with a _creeeeeeeek. _I am trapped in the corner where I'm curled up due to the poor positioning of the door and the bookshelf next to me, but I _will _get to see who it is before they see me. I see a dark figure enter the room and I hold my breath, not sure who it is. My heart races as I realize how likely it is to be Cameron. My muscles tense as a scream tries to escape from my lips. I press my lips together tightly, not wanting whoever is there to know that I'm even still here. Cameron's words echo through my mind... _"I'm not the only one that wants you dead."_

They look around, obviously confused by my absence, and begin tearing through my room. They check under my bed, under my desk, basically under anything that a person could possibly hide under or in _except _for where I actually am. They rip the sheets off of my bed and throw them to the floor. I watch helplessly as they do so, anger rising in my throat. I hate it when people mistreat my things... I restrain myself as he goes around, thankful that it hasn't occurred to them to check here yet.

The unknown intruder finally notices my lamp on my desk and they switch it on, illuminating the room. I shut my eyes and blink a few times, trying to adjust to the lighting quality as quickly as possible. I open my eyes and find that they're facing away from me, but I do see and recognize the large muscular build, the blonde hair, the nightclothes...

I push the door away quietly and almost shout with relief. "DAD!"

My father whips around and I see something flicker in his eyes. I barely have time to register it when he smiles warmly at me. I shrug away the flicker of something that I saw in his eyes, convinced it was nothing or that my eyes are playing tricks on me. I hurry over to him and he gathers me in his strong arms, squeezing tightly. I start to break down as I have done so often in his arms before, but this time it feels different. _You're being ridiculous. There's nothing different about this time,_ I think to myself as he pats my back.

"I thought you were Cato's nephew, or that you were somebody who wanted to hurt me... Or... Or..." I sniffle as he comforts me. His arms tighten around me, but I don't notice.

"Mags..."

"I know... I know, that's ridiculous."

"That _is _ridiculous because I wouldn't ever let anyone else get into this house who would hurt you."

I sniffle once again and look into his eyes, a confused look on my face. "Else?" I ask, contorting my face. His grip on me gets even tighter, and if it gets any tighter I won't have any room left to breathe. "Dad, stop, I- I can't breathe. You're hurting me."

A malevolent look comes across his face and he sneers, "That's the point."

* * *

_**OH SNAP. Well at least you guys know who I was talking about in the summary now. Were you expecting Peeta to want to kill his own daughter? Yes? (Insert 'okay' rageface here...)**_

_**Any theories forming yet? ;D I wanna see if any of you guys can guess it... Oh and if you haven't noticed already, I'm updating at random. Lol.**_

_**Well, please do review! Also add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions! Thanks!**_

_**Byee! BRO FIST.**_


	6. Chapter 6

My eyes grow to the size of saucers and I go to punch him, but his arms are positioned in such a way that I won't be able to move mine. I try to wiggle them out, but his grip on me tightens. It keeps tightening, and I am forced to keep releasing air. He's serious; he won't stop until I'm blue in the face and dead.

I desperately try to think of a way to get out of this and go to draw in breath to scream, but I can't. There's no room. I look around the room frantically and can't find anything within range of picking up and beating him with. I start kicking his shins but it's a weak attempt; I don't have the energy. My brain starts slowing down from the lack of oxygen that I am so desperately trying to pull into my lungs, but it simply won't work. My kicks grow softer and softer until I finally just stop and try to conserve energy. By now my father is basically holding me up since I can no longer support myself, and his grip only tightens by the second. I look pleadingly into his usually soft, blue eyes but now I only see hatred and a cold, hardness. I flinch at the sight of it; it was never there before.

"People never change, Mags. You should have remembered that. Now you'll die. The world won't miss a muttation like you..." My father whispers, and I can't really process what he says. I just faintly feel a fire deep inside of me slowly creeping up to my father's dandelion, wanting so badly to kill it. To kill him. I have never hated someone this much; who would have thought that a person could want their own father dead so badly. As much as I want to wring his neck right now, there _is_ still a part of me that wishes I knew what was wrong with him. This isn't like my father... He would never do something like this, right? _Right?_

"PEETA, NO!" I'm sure that someone is shouting, but I can barely hear them... My vision turns blurry around the edges and I stay conscious long enough to see my mother charging into the room, preparing herself to tackle my father...

* * *

"MAGS! MAGS! WAKE UP! NO! NOO! PLEASE, NO! I CAN'T LOSE HER TOO! GOD, PLEASE! NOOO!" I feel someone shaking my shoulder and hear screams, sobs, and my shirt is wet. I crack my eyes open to see my mother sobbing uncontrollably into my shirt, screaming.

"Mom?" I ask, my voice hoarse. "How long was I out?" I try to prop myself onto my elbow, but I flinch and my head hits the ground. I rub it and try again, slowly and more cautious this time.

My mother's bottom lip trembles and she says, "H-half a-an hour." Then she bursts into a whole new round of tears. I have never seen her cry, let alone sob about almost losing me. I so desperately want to join her and just cry about the cruelness of the world, but one of us has to be strong at all times. Now that my father was the cause of this mess... I guess I have to now. My mother's in no condition to do so, and Aramis isn't exactly leadership material.

"We have to get out of here. Now. Dad could wake up at any time now, we have to get Aramis and leave the District." I say, and I'm surprised by how even and calm it sounded.

"No... No, we have to tell the Monitors... They'll make sure that he gets back to normal..."

"Mom, he can keep up an act of being normal. I don't know what's wrong with him, but he knows how to counter whatever we say. If we tell them that he's crazy and he starts talking to them, _we'll _be the ones who are put behind bars. If we're not around he probably won't act up, so we have to leave and find a safe haven. We can't tell anybody, okay?" Ha, as if anyone would ever believe the Mad Mockingjay and her babies who haven't even learned how to fly yet.

"Okay," she whispers and gets up from the floor, her moves robotic. She goes to her room to probably pack so I follow suite. I grab a bag and pack some clothes: swimming suit, jackets, shorts, basically the easiest things to carry for any environment. Even dress clothes. But most of them are casual wear that will make it a bit easier to blend. My mother had tied my father up on my desk chair, so I push him over and dig through my drawers. I find a few boxes of matches and run downstairs. I pack some food into my bag and all of a sudden remember about Aramis. I pack a bag for him and gently shake him awake. _How could he have slept through all of that?_

He rubs his eyes and sits up drowsily. "Come on, we're going on... A trip, Aramis. It'll be fun. We have to leave now." I say gently, not wanting to get burned after he has just woken up.

"Why? How come I didn't know about this earlier?" He asks, fully alert now.

"It was supposed to be... A surprise." I answer, compromising a cover story as I go along. I don't want him to know just yet; not when he's just woken up.

"Where are we going?" He asks, getting out of bed and yawning, lazy once again.

"That's a surprise too." _For the both of us_, I think.

"You're useless," he says, not bothering to make it sound nice in the slightest.

"Thanks. Now get ready with whatever you have to do, we're leaving as soon as possible." My open door all of a sudden pops into my head, and my father tied up inside my room so I tousle Aramis's hair slightly and leave him, almost sprinting to my room. Once I get there I close the door behind me and realize that we will need cash, and lots of it. I find my stash of bills that I have saved up over the years which has accumulated into quite a thick wad of bills. I'm still wearing my nightclothes so I change into something that people would wear while traveling; if there's one thing I've learned how to do over the years, it's blend. My pants are black and made of a flexible material while I'm wearing a baggy t-shirt on top.

I begin to look around my room and worry, wondering if we have everything we need. I decide that we do after debating in my head for a few minutes and go downstairs, closing my door behind me. My mother is waiting nervously in the kitchen, her bag set next to mine on the table. She is dressed similar to the way I am; in a way that will blend in with a crowd. I realize that I'm still holding all of our money and quickly stuff it into a small pocket of my bag where it will be safe.

"I told Aramis we're going on a surprise trip. I don't want him to know about what happened just yet. Don't mention anything to him," I whisper to my mother and she nods vigorously.

"Good. We shouldn't tell him anything that he doesn't need to know." She whispers back, her voice slightly trembling even though she is trying so hard to hide it.

We wait in the kitchen for a while longer, nervously pacing, waiting for Aramis to hurry up and get down here. When he does I immediately check to see that he would blend while in a crowd, and he does. His pack is slung over one shoulder and he throws it to the ground.

"Where's dad?" He asks after looking around at us.

"He's... Not coming. He doesn't like traveling." I answer, my mind working hard to think of a rational excuse.

"He's traveled before and he was fine, why not now?" A suspicious look comes over his face and I feel my stomach drop.

"He's just not in the mood to travel right now and he insisted on taking care of the pr- flowers outside while we're away." I know that if I hadn't caught myself and said primroses, that would have been the last straw for my mother. She's barely holding on right now as it is, I don't know what would happen if I mentioned my dead aunt around her right now.

He ponders my answer and eventually accepts it. "How long are we going to be gone?"

"You'll see. Grab something to eat."

"Why?"

"You're always hungry and I just want something in your mouth other than your foot."

* * *

**_Here's a super long author's note:_**

**_I used the term Monitors earlier, so I thought I'd explain that here. Monitors are basically like the Peacekeepers now, or police as we would probably call it. They 'monitor' the Districts, settle disputes, try to prevent murders and such. They don't do a very good job..._**

**_Okay, so Peeta's evil plot was ruined and Katniss went on beast mode. Seems legitimate. Tell your friends about this story guys, spread the flames of the Phoenix.(;_**

**_Well, please do review! It helps, like, a lot. They always make me happy and you don't want to see a pouting 13 year old girl walking around, do you? I updated today cuz I had nothing better to do... Sad, isn't it? Add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions._**

**_Bye! POLISBIL!_**


	7. Chapter 7

After we leave I'm absolutely lost; I have no idea where to go, no idea where it's safe, and no idea if I'll even get to see tomorrow. If Cameron confronted me last night, then he won't be scared to do it tonight. _Especially_ since I'm with my family. Well, at least the mostly sane remnants of my family.

Without thinking about it I've taken them to where a place called the Hob used to stand and I just stare blankly at the building that has taken its place there. "District 2," my mother's soft voice comes from so close that it startles me and I almost jump. She's snuck up on me on silent hunter's feet, which is pretty common.

I give an almost imperceptible nod which I'm not even sure that she catches and I turn on my heel to go in the direction of the train station. If I make a call to President Paylor for a favor then we can probably get the tickets for free. That is, _if _the person selling tickets doesn't recognize my mother. Which, they probably will. The rebellion was such a long time ago, but the Mockingjay's legacy will live on forever.

"You don't know where you're going, do you?" Aramis asks from behind me; I can sense the smug look on his face.

"I know where we're going; _you_ don't. Now shut up and let me walk in silence for once, Aramis." I snap at him, but immediately after I say it my face softens and so does my voice. "We're going to be getting some tickets for the first train to the place we're going."

"Okay," he answers shortly, his attentions already turned elsewhere.

We keep walking for quite a while, finding our way through the dark as I constantly look over my shoulder. When we do reach the station my neck aches from turning so often. There are lights on inside of the station and I enter without hesitating. Transportation is one thing that never shuts down in Panem.

My mother and Aramis sit down and I walk to the ticket stall to get 3 one-way tickets to District 2. We won't be coming back any time soon.

The man in the small looks overworked, tired, and bored but he immediately recognizes me. Most people do.

"No Peeta?" He asks looking around, obviously confused.

"No. I'd like 3 one-way tickets to District 2 on the soonest train, please."

"The soonest one is a cargo train, Miss."

"We don't mind. Just get us on and I might put in a good word for you. Maybe get you off of the night shift."

"Right away, Ma'am." He says, perking up a bit. I know, I know, blackmailing is a horrible thing to do and all of that stuff. The truth is that people almost always do things to benefit only themselves. There are very few people that will do things out of the kindness of their hearts just for you. In fact, I doubt that almost anybody would.

He slides the papers through a slot at the bottom of the window so I take them and walk back to my family. I check the time on the papers and I see that it's at least 3 hours from now. Great.

"What's wrong. I want the truth. You're antsy and dad's not here. You keep looking over your shoulder like someone is going to attack you. You all of a sudden have this 'surprise trip' to wherever we're going. I want answers, Mags and I want them now." Aramis says after only a half an hour of waiting.

"You'll get those answers, and more, in time Aramis. Be patient."

"I'm tired of being patient and waiting for your damn answers that are never going to come!" He says, already moved to anger. Or maybe it's frustration with me...

"Aramis, just-" I was about to say 'Aramis, just be patient!' But I stop myself and start again. "I can't tell you this right now. You're not ready, I'm not ready, now just isn't the right time."

"Then when _is _the right time?!"

"You'll see. Excuse me." I say, getting up from my seat and heading towards the bathroom. The station is still empty since it's so early, but I know that people are going to be coming soon. District 12 has always gotten up early; they all know a thing or two about the value of the money you could earn from those few extra hours.

I burst into the bathroom and slam the stall door behind me, finally able to take my frustrations out on _something. _I put the lid of the toilet down and sit on top of it, curled up into a little ball. Whether I'm actually alone or surrounded by people, I always just _feel _like I'm alone.

I grab fistfuls of hair and just stay like that for a long time. I'm not sure how long I'm in there, but eventually I hear other people entering and leaving the bathroom. After just about the 20th woman has left, I slowly unwrap myself and ease the stall door open. I leave the bathroom calmly and see that Aramis and my mother are in the same spots that I left them in.

"Did you move _at all?_" I ask jokingly as I sit down.

"Yea. It's about time you got here, Mags. The train's coming in 5 minutes," Aramis informs me and I look at the clock. Of course he's right.

"Good job, Aramis! You know how to tell time!" I say, rolling my eyes as I grab my bag and start walking toward the platform.

"Sweet, do I get a gold sticker?" He says, quickly following me, our mother on his heels.

"Of course, it's in that place next to that other place with that one thing if you want to go find it," I say as we get nearer to the platform. He sniggers behind me, but I ignore him and scan our surroundings. Other people are here, of course, but it's unlikely that they are getting onto a cargo train. I stand there, tapping my foot on the ground for a few minutes, simply waiting for the train to come. When it pulls into the station to drop off some supplies we show some Monitors our papers and they take us to a car where workers spends their time while waiting for the train to stop. The Capitol never disappoints; the car has a cozy feeling to it and is filled with people. The buzz of friendly conversation fills the air as we walk by, trying to find a place to sit. We eventually find an empty booth and we put our bags onto the ground at our feet.

"We're going to District 2, now that one of your questions is answered will you shut up?" I ask Aramis when I see him draw in breath to ask a question. I see his shoulders sag in disappointment but he nods, if somewhat reluctantly.

The train starts going and I am able to enjoy my family's silence for an hour before Aramis breaks.

"Why District 2?"

"Because..." I falter, my mind working furiously to think of a believable excuse.

"Because Gale's there." My mother says, a distant look in her eyes. We are both immediately stunned into silence.

"Are... Are you leaving Dad? Is that why he's not here?" Aramis asks, emotion cracking his voice. I see him trying to blink tears away and I almost cry myself. He may have a fire in him, but he's still an innocent boy. Nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't like change, and he doesn't react well to it. None of us do.

"No, of course not honey. This isn't a story for right now. We'll tell you once the time is right." She says, pulling herself away from her memories long enough to look at him and flick her gaze to me.

"Why don't you guys ever tell me anything?" He says angrily, tears in his eyes.

"We're trying to protect you for as long as possible. It's for your own good. Please, just don't make this harder than it is Aramis."

"No, you're making it way harder than it is. If you just told me-"

"You think I don't want to tell you my answer to every single question you ask me? You think it's easy, or my first choice to leave you in the dark? Well it's not. If I had a choice I would tell you everything the second it happened. I have to protect you, Aramis." I snap at him, losing my patience. With other people I tend to be more patient, but with my own family my patience is no more than a thin strand.

"You with all of your dirty little secrets, of course I think that you enjoy leaving me in the dark. You've always enjoyed doing it before. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go throw up. You guys just _disgust_ me." He quickly leaves and goes to find wherever the lavatory is, and I just sit there like an idiot: mouth agape, a shocked, hurt look on my face.

"Don't play with fire if you don't want to get burned," my mother says from across the table that separates us. A tear rolls down my cheek, but I don't bother wiping it away. She's right. I knew that hiding things from Aramis would hurt him and me, the fire within him ensured that. I knew what I was getting into, and I did it anyways. Playing with fire is dangerous indeed.

* * *

_**Not a cliffhanger or anything, but I do hope that the last line did convey SOME emotion to you guys.**_

_**Feel free to check out my latest story, 'Property of the Capitol'! It's all about Johanna Mason, and told from her point of view. It starts from the very beginning, since it makes more sense to me if I know the whole thing. It's just a personal preferrence.**_

_**Anyways, please do review! Also add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestion. Thanks!(:**_

_**Bye guys! JENNIFER! WE CAN NEVER BE TOGETHER! YOU'RE TOO FAT. (Lol, highfive for awesome Youtubers. :D)**_


	8. Chapter 8

Aramis didn't return for another hour. I just sat there, obviously depressed, waiting for him to return. When he did I simply turned away from him and looked out the window, trying to ignore him. I was able to see his reflection in the glass, and he looked as mad as ever. I could also see my face; tearstreaked, depressed, hurt. We were an even match.

"What's your problem?" He says when our mother gets up to use the restroom. The thing is that he decided to not leave out a few, well, _choice _words.

I whirl around to face him and snarl, "My problem is that my world is crashing in on me and I'm trying to save you from that, but since you are your ungrateful self you need to know and don't care about what it might be. Don't you see what this information is doing to me? It's slowly killing me, and you don't bother to care if I'm dying. You just don't want to feel left out."

"No, _you _don't understand, Mags. Mom and dad have always liked you better, always told you things that I never got to know. Always told you everything, took care of you. What did Aramis get? He always got ignored, hated, never told anything. Never told that he was loved..." He says, his voice quiet and sad at the end. "Maybe you should learn what it's like to be left out of everything, to be ignored, to be hated. To be an outsider in your own family." He starts whispering furiously, and I'm glad. This conversation should be private.

"Aramis... Mom and dad always tell you that they love you..." I say, knowing that I'm right. "You were never hated or left out, you always chose that path. We always welcomed you with open arms, but no-o. Aramis is too good for his family, never wants to spend time with them."

He gives a rough, cruel bark of a laugh. "So dad never told you?" He asks quietly.

"Told me what?"

"Ha, finally a secret I know and you don't."

"Just tell me," I order harshly.

He seems to ponder this in a comical sort of way, placing a hand on his chin and turning his head to and fro. "Nahh, I think you'd like to feel what it's like to be left out."

"Tell me or I'll raise all of hell itself to make sure you get half of the pain you deserve right now."

"No need to get too violent here, now is there Magnolia?" He asks sweetly in a singsong voice.

"Aramis Finnick, if we weren't in public right now I'd-"

"I'll trade you a secret for a secret." He says, cutting me off.

I stay silent for a while, but eventually say, "Fine. You go first though."

He shrugs and says, "Sure, fair enough. Dad always told me to stay away from the rest of the family. He always told me that I would ruin everything."

My mouth hangs open and I fumble to put together a sentence. "You- You're lying. Dad would never do that..."

"Of course you would think that. You guys were always perfect to each other, never a hair out of place in your relationship."

"Well, it's the same with you and mom. You're always able to calm her down during her panic attacks. She hates me. She always just panics more whenever I try to calm her down."

"Please, just because I can help a woman when she's half crazy doesn't mean anything. What matters is what she thinks of me when she's in one of her sane states."

"She thinks you're a good son. She might as well think of me as satan's spawn, she hates me so much."

"Enough with this, it's pointless and you're never going to give up. Just tell me your damn secret." Aramis snaps at me.

I take a deep breath and say, "We only left because Dad tried to kill me last night. I don't think he's sane anymore."

"He was never sane in the first place, Mags." He says and I'm surprised by how calm he is. "How did he try to kill you?"

"He tried to crush me in his arms, basically cutting off my air supply." I lift up my shirt enough for him to see the bruises on my abdomen. His eyes grow to the size of saucers as I look down at my own body. Large bruises are already forming there, turning purple and I ghost my fingers over them and wince.

"Mags, that's crazy. Dad may have been evil to me, but he loved you and never would have done anything like that. Those bruises are probably from that fight with Cato's nephew."

"I know my injuries, Aramis. You know me. You know that I might as well keep a log of everything. I'm not one of those idiots that doesn't know where they got a scab or a bruise from."

"I know, I know..." He grumbles, and we immediately stop talking when we see our mother heading back towards us. I tried to save Aramis from why we're leaving, but I failed. Now I'll have to try and protect our mother from the truth about everything else. And this time, I won't fail.

* * *

A few hours later we arrive in District 2 and I'm the first one off of the train. I suck in a deep breath of air and look around in wonder. The quarries are all busy, a constant stream of people going in and out with wheelbarrows. I spin in a slow circle, taking everything in. The fresh mountain air, the mountains themselves, the houses, the stone, the simple beauty of nature. I don't trust it. It's just so... _Different _from District 12.

"Mom, this is a great place to go. Nice choice," I say as I turn to face her. She is looking off in the distance and I follow her line of sight. I see a giant mountain covered in rubble and it takes me a few moments to place my finger on what sets it apart from all of the other mountains. It's devoid of life, and now that I look closer, I can make out more details. At first I had thought that it was just covered in rubble, but in reality it _is _rubble.

"Gale had said that we were playing by Snow's rules..." My mother whispers and my mouth forms a silent 'O' shape. Like the meadow, a thing that must have been pure beauty is now a graveyard.

* * *

After the train leaves we head off towards town, my mother leading the way.

"Mom? Where exactly _is _Gale's house?" I ask after we pass by a very familiar looking shop.

"How am I supposed to know? I've never visited him in District 2."

"... You mean to tell us that you've been leading us the whole time, blindly?" She stays silent and keeps walking, swiveling her head to look around. "Were you just hoping that we would somehow be lucky enough to find Gale simply by looking for him?"

"Something along those lines." She answers reluctantly.

"Let's get something to eat. We're all hungry, tired, and sleep deprived. We should check into an motel or something, find him later by asking around."

"Yea, I'm really hungry. Can we just find a good motel?" Aramis agrees eagerly.

"You're always hungry, Aramis." I roll my eyes but can't help but smile at the familiarity of it. Just like old times.

* * *

We find an motel on the edge of town that was surprisingly clean and offered warm meals. I was happy as long as I got a roof over my head. Well, at least that's what I'd like to think. I was fidgeting around a lot in my room, waiting for Aramis to return with our dinner. I was starving, and I could tell that our mother was on the verge of a breakdown. I'm not sure how it didn't come any sooner; she's never gone this long without having some problems. I watch her closely out of the corner of my eye as I pretend to read a book I brought from home.

"Mags, if you're going to pretend to read to watch me then can you at least turn the page?" Her voice startles me and I jump slightly.

"How did you...?"

"You haven't turned the page and it's been 15 minutes and I know that you're not a slow reader. I also know you're worried about me, but trust me. I'm holding on just fine." I can tell she's lying. She's struggling to keep her limbs still as she sits on her bed, staring at the wall. The room we've rented has only 2 beds, but there is a sofa that Aramis volunteered to sleep on. How thoughtful.

My cheeks burn as I turn the page, actually reading now but still doing my best to keep an eye on her. The door opens and I look up from my book. Aramis is back.

"It's about time you got back. I'm starving, and you're been gone for quite a while."

"Yea, sorry that the cook wasn't exactly the happiest person in the world when I barged into her kitchen demanding food. I'm pretty sure she spit in this," he says, handing me a lukewarm bowl of soup.

I slurp up a spoonful and say, "Does it look like I care?"

"Mags whenever you're 'starving' it's like you can all of a sudden turn to cannibalism." He teases as he sits next to me on my bed after giving our mother a bowl of soup as well.

Well, that's another one of the few things I can count on. Aramis's ability to tease and be able to annoy the heck out of me.

* * *

_**Oh younger brothers. They annoy you, but sometimes they can be nice or something. If you've got a younger brother like me, then you know what I'm talking about. I just thought I'd let you guys know that I got a 44% on a grammar test in english. DON'T BLAME ME. IT WAS HARD... Darn those terms that nobody knows except for english majors... It's cool though cuz it didn't count as a grade or anything. Lol, the highest grade in the class was a 60%... Even advanced students fail.**_

_**I'm blabbering. I'm sorry. Well, review, add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions.**_

_**Bye! SARAH JESSICA.**_


	9. Chapter 9

I ponder over Aramis's words on the train earlier today. How could Dad be so nice to me, yet be Aramis's worst enemy? He had always been the sane anchor, the one that everyone could depend on. He was the structural support in the building of our family; without him, everything has collapsed. It just doesn't make sense. My few friends would always comment jealously about how perfect my family was; if only they knew the half of it.

It's like a fruit that I once read about in a book. When it's ripe, the fruit looks perfect and delicious to eat. When you cut it open, you find a rotten core inhabited by maggots and tree worms. It's the perfect way to describe my completely dysfunctional family.

I finally fall asleep a few hours after midnight, but it feels like my eyes are only closed for a few seconds before I sit bolt upright in bed.

"Mom! Aramis! Wake up!" I say frantically springing out of bed and flicking on a lightswitch.

I hear Aramis groan from the couch and say, "What is it now, Mags? Another surprise trip?"

My mother sits up calmly and rubs the sleep from her eyes silently, watching me with big eyes that have a childlike curiousity in them. She's confused, but she will let me talk first before she asks questions.

"I know why Dad tried to kill me."

* * *

That certainly wakes Aramis up. He props himself onto his elbow and looks at me with wonder on his face. "What? How could you possibly know? Don't tell me that you've suddenly gotten mind reading powers or something."

"No, that's not it Aramis. Did dad ever tell you any old sayings? Like, from before the Disasters?"

"Uhhh, yea? Duh. He gave one like every single night at dinner when we were kids."

"Well do you remember any of them?"

"Not really..."

"Well I do, and one of them applies exactly to this."

"Which one of Dad the Great's proverbs is it exactly?"

"'Times change; people don't.'"

"... I'm sorry, I'm lost. How exactly does that apply to our current situation?"

"The tracker jacker venom never _exactly _left dad's system. He just learned how to cope with it _most of the time_, and his love for Mom is the only thing that kept him going. Meaning..."

A horrified look of understanding dawns on both of their faces and Aramis says what I was too afraid to. "Dad's still hijacked."

* * *

"That's impossible. I mean, he was fine for such a long time. He had therapy from Dr. Aurelius and everything..." My mother says, shaking her head. I can tell a breakdown is near.

"He was holding on to sanity for you. Something... Something must have happened to trigger the memories from the hijacking." I say, trying to keep my voice as even as possible. I run my shaky hand through my hair, trying to look as normal as possible.

"But-but he knows the difference between his memories then and those now. You weren't alive back then for Snow to be distorting memories of you!" My mother says, her voice rising.

"Mom, you have to be quiet. It's 4 in the morning." Aramis says quietly.

"I don't know why, how, or what is going on here, but I sure want to know who's behind it." I say, pounding my fist into the palm of my hand.

"We already know who's behind it, Mags. We've heard the story once, which is more than enough. Remember?" Aramis says with an exaggerated patience.

"The Capitol, I know I know."

"No, Mags. Not the Capitol. _Snow."_

"Holy crap..." I whisper as I finally put two and two together to actually make four this time.

"Nice choice of words, there. I'll go get the soap."

I wave his words away and say, "Great, great. Just _great._ Snow just had to be so cunning to think ahead like this, and and..."

"Rewind, I'm still not sure how Snow's playing into this still. He's _dead."_

"Mom, that's exactly it. Snow's taunting us from the grave."

* * *

After that we decide to find Gale as soon as possible and go back to bed. I of course don't sleep. Being taunted by a dead man only serves to make a person watch their backs at all times. I just lie on my back and stare at the ceiling.

At 6 I decide that I've waited long enough and pull myself out of bed. I get ready in the bathroom and run the hot water in the shower. I stand there for a while, just enjoying the calmness of it all. It's almost as if nothing could ever go wrong as long as I stay here, but I know that I can't spend the rest of my life here. I reluctantly step out and towel off. I pull on some clothes and walk as quietly as I can out of the bathroom, trying not to wake them. I write a note for them explaining how I'm going for a walk to see if I can find Gale. I tiptoe out of the room and close the door softly behind me.

I quickly bounce down the stairs and grab some hot oats from the kitchen, then I'm out and into the streets. I ask people if they know about a man named Gale Hawthorne, but none of them answer. They just speed up and walk past me. Rude much?

After about an hour and a half of being ignored I collapse onto a bench and just stare straight ahead. A boy around my age comes to sit down next to me and asks, "Why are you asking around about a government bigshot?" He barely even moves his lips as he does so.

"Why do you care?"

"Because nobody asks about him. You must either be new or crazy not to know him."

"And why is that?" I demand.

"Because he's the mayor of District 2." With that he leaves me on the bench sitting alone and fumbling for words.

With renewed spirit and excitement I can barely contain, I jump up and backtrack towards a building where I saw a map of District 2 posted on. It takes quite a bit of walking and I have to turn around a couple of times to find my way again, but I do find it eventually. I memorize the path as best I can and start off towards the District's Justice Building.

When I've still got quite a few blocks left before I reach the Justice Building I turn down a street that's nearly abandoned and start on my way, worry free. I just can't wait long enough to go get my Mother and Aramis; it would take too long. I just want to find Gale to make sure before I go tell them. There's no need to get everyone's spirits high.

I am walking past an alleyway, wondering if Gale has truly gotten over my mother or not when a hand slaps over my mouth and I am pulled into the alleyway. They press a knife against my throat and drag me deeper and deeper into the alley. Can this day get any better?

"Hello, Baby Mockingjay. Nice to see you again." I just had to ask.

* * *

I'm sorry if this story seems rushed at parts to you, I was just really excited to get all of this out and everything so I crammed it all into one of my short chapters and... Yea. This is what came out. Anyways, YAY! I have now told you guys why I made Peeta evil. And Cameron came back. BOO!

Review please! Also add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions. Thanks!

Over and out. ;D


	10. Chapter 10

"Here I was, all upset about having to stay here in District 2 while you were all the way in District 12. I couldn't possibly murder you with that much distance between us and get as much satisfaction. But here you are, right here in District 2! You're making it so easy for me, Baby Mockingjay." Cameron hisses into my ear. I can't believe I was so stupid as to agree with my mother to come here. This is my attempted murderer's domain, he has the advantage. Even if I do escape from him, the layout of the District is unfamiliar. He will be able to track me with no effort at all.

"Now Cameron, didn't your mother ever tell you it was rude to try and kill people at reunions?" I say, trying to think of a way I could get somebody's attention without getting my throat slit before help comes.

"Who do you think taught me?" He asks with a harsh laugh. I almost shiver at the thought of my mother teaching me how to kill.

"So, the weather's pretty nice here in District 2. Don't you think? Well, I like it. It's just perfect. I mean the sun is shining, the clouds are beautiful and just look so puffy. The light breeze really helps to cool you down, it just feels so great on my face. I just wish I had pulled my hair back or something so I wouldn't get a mouthful of hair everytime I turn a corner and the wind blows my hair into my face. It's just so annoying. You wouldn't get it since your hair is so short, but honestly it's so true. I mean, really-"

"Shut. Up. I'm only going to say that once, got that Baby Mockingjay?" He pushes the knife into my neck and I feel a sharp prick of pain as it cuts into my skin.

"Okay, okay. So you're not good with small talk. Geez, you could've just said something..." I mutter and I finally just resort to a powerful kick in the shin, followed by stomping on his foot. He doesn't flinch.

"You're going to pay for that." He growls as he presses the knife into my neck, the sharp edge digging into my skin. I bring my fist up as quick as a snake attacking and it connects with his nose. I feel it break underneath my hand and blood immediately starts gushing from it; finally, satisfaction.

"SON OF A-" He shouts loudly, releasing his grip on me as he clutches his broken, bloodied nose.

"CENSORSHIP NEEDED!" I shout over his voice and I start running. I feel like my mother in her Hunger Games; running as fast as my legs can possibly take me as I try to escape my murderer. Regularly I, of course, am not as fast as she had been, but right now I'm probably going faster than she ever did. I weave my way desperately through random streets, not sure of where I'm going but not hesitating at each turn. After running what feels like 2 dozen blocks I stop and double over, breathing heavily, dripping in sweat. People look at me in disgust but otherwise ignore me as I stand there, trying to catch my breath. I can just never blend in, now can I?

Once my lungs are satisfied and my heart beat has steadied, only then do I look up at where I have ended up.

The Justice Building.

I smile and walk up the stone steps leading to the entrance. The lobby is empty except for a woman who looks absolutely perfect sitting at the front desk, typing away at her keyboard, not bothering to look away from her computer screen as if her life depended on it as I approach. For a little while I just stand there, waiting for her to look up at me but she never does. Maybe she thinks that if she ignores me I'll go away. _Wrong._

I clear my throat loudly several times before she looks up at me. Her face is small, thin, and covered in perfectly done makeup. Her golden hair is put up into a bun and not a single strand is out of place. She sighs, and flashes me a fake smile. "How may I help you?" A look into her eyes and tells me everything she obviously isn't allowed to say. _"Get out of my lobby now."_

"I'd like to see Mayor Hawthorne, please."

"Do you have a scheduled appointment?" She asks in an overly cheerful, sickly sweet voice.

"No, but-"

"Mr. Hawthorne is a very busy man. He can't just meet every single little girl who has a crush on him or else he wouldn't get any official business done. I'm afraid that you are going to have to lea-"

"I'm not leaving, and I do hope that you stop sounding like a lap dog soon because it very much annoys me." I lean over the counter and softly add, _"You won't like me when I'm annoyed."_

"Threats do not work on me, miss. Please leave now or I will have to call security."

"Call the Mayor. NOW!" I order and give her such an intense look that she finally relents.

"Fine. Who should I say is calling for him?" She asks with an overexaggerated, sarcastic sigh.

"An old friend. Don't pull any tricks or else trust me, some important people will be _very _much disappointed in you."

Her eyes grow wide but she picks up the phone and follows my directions. "He's coming with his _personal guards _right now." She says after a few minutes of speaking into the phone.

I nod and go to sit in one of the chairs facing away from the woman. The wall I am facing is made entirely of stone, but in front of it is another wall of glass this time. Crystal clear water runs down it and I am able to see everything behind me. After seemingly hours of waiting, Mayor Hawthorne walks into the lobby with at least 4 armed guards. Gale is tall, well muscled, and has the Seam look about him, even when wearing such rich clothes. I can't make out very many details from the reflection, but he seems sculpted and very much handsome.

"You said an old friend stopped by?" His deep voice reaches my ears as he asks the receptionist about me.

"Yes, she's right over there." She supplies. pointing over to me.

He looks over to me and sees the same hair that my mother has. I could probably pass for her from behind or from the side, but not close up or straight on.

Sure enough as he gets closer his pace quickens slightly. He thinks I am my mother. "Katniss? Is that you?"

I stand and turn to face him. His striking grey eyes seem to pierce through me as I look straight into them, sending a message that I'm not afraid. I am taller than my mother by a good few inches, but I am shorter than my father. My cheekbones protrude from my face and are much more noticable than hers but that could be mistaken for malnutrition if I claimed to be her. My eyes are my trademark feature for telling us apart, so the second he sees them he knows.

His face falls when he sees that I'm not my mother, but he tries to cover it hurriedly. He clears his throat and says, "I'm sorry. I thought you were an old friend of mine, Katniss Everdeen."

"In many ways, I am." I answer.

* * *

_****__**If you go on my profile you will see that I am currently on semi-hiatus. I will be updating a lot less often, but I felt the need to squeeze one last update in before I go on break.**_

_**Anyways, please do review! It makes my day. Like, no joke. I smile for the rest of the day when I get a new review. :D Also add to alerts, favorite, and PM me any suggestions.**_

_**Bye! WE HAVE HIT 2 MILLION BROS. *BRO FIST!***_


	11. Chapter 11

_**I know I said I'm on hiatus, but I'm sneaking in another chapter here cuz I'm in a fairly good mood. Basically, m**__**y grandma has been visiting a certain country where my family originates from, and I'm in a good mood because she's coming home tomorrow. That is why I am now giving you guys this new chapter. I'll let you read it now...**_

* * *

Confusion flashes in his eyes, but his expression stays unreadable. If I didn't know what to look for, I never would have noticed it. He's extremely good at covering his emotions. Like my mother, he's probably had years of practice. "Come again?" He says politely and I give a small laugh.

"I'm Magnolia, Katniss' daughter. Nice to finally meet the man who killed my aunt." I mock, even holding my hand out for him to shake.

Anger flares up in his eyes but he suppresses it once more. "Not shy about speaking to strangers, are you?"

"Not one bit sir. But you're not exactly a stranger, so..." I give a small salute as I say 'sir',putting my hand to good use seeing as he did not bother to shake it. My voice slightly trails off and the end and I stand there awkwardly as he fixes his hard, Seam eyes on mine.

"Why don't we go to my office to talk in... Private." He says as a small group of official looking people walk into the building, talking in hushed voices and shooting us glances.

"Fine by me."

He leads me out of the lobby and down several hallways, even up an elevator to finally get to his office. His bodyguards don't take their eyes off of me for one second, as if I could hide a weapon in my clothes. They must have spotted the blood, and are considering the odds of it not being mine. I get so annoyed that eventually I just spin on my heel quickly and face one of the guards. He must have at least 70 or so pounds on me, and maybe a head or so.

"Don't worry, this blood here isn't mine." I say, tugging at the bloodstained areas on my shirt. "It's the Mayor of District 12's blood, because there can't possibly be any other reason for me wanting for come to District 2."

He looks slightly surprised and answers me in a rough voice. "Move along, Ms. Mellark. I won't be the one babysitting you."

I clench my jaw and turn back around to see Gale is waiting silently just a few paces ahead, his entourage watching me as well. Their stone hard faces match the district.

"Ready to go?" Gale asks teasingly as I cover the short distance between us.

"Are you?"

He gives a polite smile and he begins weaving his way through the seemingly endless labyrinth of rooms as I think, _District 12 never got to turn their Justice Building into a fun house. How come District 2 gets to have a maze and an alley of horror?_

After a few minutes we finally reach a plush, richly furnished room. He takes a seat behind a large mahogany desk and gestures for me to sit down, and for his guards to leave. They do so reluctantly, each of them eyeing me wearily. I stare back at them, and none of them seem capable of meeting my icy glare for very long. Once they have all left the room I turn to face 'Mayor Hawthorne', as his name plate so clearly states in a fancy golden script.

"They wouldn't do very well in a real fight." I say, picking up a picture off of his desk and looking at it, genuinely interested.

"They're better guards than you think. Now what do you want?"

"I highly doubt that. Why do you have a picture of Johanna Mason on your desk?" I ask, making it obvious that I will not answer any of his questions until I want to.

"We're married. Now that I've answered your question, answer mine."

"When did you two get together? I wasn't invited to any wedding."

"It's been 7 years since the wedding. Your invitation must have gotten lost. Now answer my question." His voice is rock hard and I look into his eyes and curl my lips into a warm smile. My eyes are just as icy as his, if not worse.

"I was coming to that conclusion as well. Congratulations, let's hope she doesn't mind you killing a bunch of small children, some of which who weren't even Reaping age-"

"ENOUGH." He shouts, face red as he slams his palms onto his desk. "Just answer my question."

"I'll do what I like, Mr. Hawthorne." I answer, shaking on the inside at the quick change in his behavior. "Do you have mood swings very often?"

"Just as stubborn as your mother..." He mutters and starts cussing under his breath as he takes his seat once again.

"Your language is quite colorful. I've never heard several of those words before. Bravo."

He scowls at me and says, "This is the last time I'm going to ask you this: What do you want?"

"I want to live." He raises an eyebrow questioningly, asking for me to elaborate. I sigh and start once again. "Long story short: a lot of people want me dead. You probably guessed that when you saw the marks on my neck. I also have bruises all over my rib cage. My family and I need your help."

He lets out a large sigh and says, "Marks and bruises don't prove much. Those could have been self inflicted. I'm sorry, but I can't help you. Even if I wanted to."

"You have to help us. And what do you mean even if you wanted to? You are probably just holding a grudge since my mom didn't choose you. My mother is the one who wanted to come here in the first place! If you ever really loved her, you wouldn't hesitate to help us."

One look at his face and I know I've gone too far. His gaze is icy cold, and I swear the room's temperature noticeably drops. "I loved your mother. You know that. But now I love Johanna. My every move is recorded, Ms. Mellark. I worked hard to get to this position, and I'm not letting years of hard work go down the drain just because you got into a spot of trouble on the playground."

"I know you still love her. Why else would you have lost your cool and come running when you thought I was her? Oh, and also," I lift up my shirt enough for him to see the marks that my father's arms had left on my ribcage. "Does _this _look like a playground brawl to you? Does the blood on my neck look like a playground brawl to you? Don't you _dare _deny that, at least. You're a smart man, Gale. You know wounds, and you know that these were done on purpose."

He starts shaking his head, frustrated, and gets up to start pacing around the room. "You can't just _stop _loving someone..."

"Then help us. Please. You know that we won't tell anyone."

"Your mother? Yes, she will take the secret to her grave. You? I'm not so sure."

"I pinky swear." I say, rolling my eyes. "I'll even tell you the whole story. Now please, just get us to a safe house or something."

He considers my words for a moment, stopping his pacing. Finally he says, "Okay."

* * *

After that we arrange to meet up in the middle of the night to use the darkness to our advantage. I don't bother telling him anything until he gets us to someplace I know to be safe; his curiosity will be my 'insurance policy'. He won't even know about Cameron.

I hurry back to the motel, only using the busiest streets to assure that nobody will be able to pull me into an alleyway again. It takes a lot longer, but I don't get ambushed, so it's worth it.

"Where have you been?" Aramis explodes when I open the door to our room.

"I left a note. Not my fault you didn't read it." I shrug as I go to sit on my unmade bed.

"Oh I read it, but you were gone for 4 hours! It shouldn't take that long!"

"It does if you meet the Mayor." I answer nonchalantly, kicking off my shoes and laying back, hands behind my head.

"You always say to blend! How does a meeting with the Mayor make you blend with a crowd?"

"Well, if the Mayor's name was Gale Hawthorne, I'd say that it was okay."

"WHAT?!" My mother and Aramis simultaneously shout.

"Gale is the mayor of District 2. That's his bigshot government job."

"That's why he left..." My mother whispers and pulls her knees up to her chin on her bed.

"Yea... He kind of had to work his way up there. It's okay mom. I'm pretty sure he's only agreeing to help us because he's still in love with you."

"WHAT?" She shouts once again, turning to gawk at me.

"I should probably get you guys caught up on what's going on... Preferably _without _interruptions. I'm getting tired of you both shouting 'WHAT?' every 5 seconds." I eye both of them playfully, and begin.

* * *

Thankfully, they don't interrupt me as I tell them about what happened. I talk in a rushed voice, scared that somebody is going to burst through the door any second now or something. Afterwards, I am met with a hailstorm of questions, which I answer tiredly. When we have finally finished, we don't exactly do much. I had already met the day's one and only goal, so we simply sit around in our room, staring at the ceiling. At one point or another, we each fall asleep.

* * *

"Hey. Katniss, wake up..." My eyes shoot open as I realize how stupid I must have been to fall asleep. I keep my breathing even and I don't move my head as I frantically search the room, only moving my eyes. I see a dark figure standing over my mother and another one over Aramis. I am unguarded and I stay silent as I get out of my bed and slip into my leather boots, making barely a rustle of noise. Nobody notices.

I reach over to the nightstand and grab something hard; I think it's the tv remote. I ready myself and switch the lamp on, disorienting them both and making them snap around to look at the source of their confusion.

I place my hands onto my bed and am about to go to plant my feet onto the chest of the man who was watching over my mother, but I stop.

"Gale?" I squint slightly and it is indeed Gale. He wears a ski mask but I can see his eyes through small slits in them. They're all that I need to recognize him.

"Yes, it's Gale. Now can you please turn off that damned lamp?" He shields his eyes and only now do I recognize his voice.

"If it makes you feel any safer, or saves my life, it's Johanna over here!" I look up and smile as she waves her arms in the air mockingly. I switch off the lamp and I myself am a bit relieved; the darkness is more comforting than people make it out to be sometimes.

"Nice to finally meet you, Johanna." I say as Aramis props himself onto his elbow, groaning.

"I wish I could say the same, hun."

"Wuz goin' on?" Aramis says and I can't help but laugh.

"Well, a lot of things are going on. Care to clarify?"

"You know wha' I meant."

I smile, even though he can't see it, and say, "Gale Hawthorne and Johanna Mason are here to help try and save our sorry butts."

* * *

_**Here's my shameless bit of self advertising: I have posted a story on Johanna Mason starting from the very beginning. I added my own little twist to it, kind of like how I changed Peeta in here. I won't be updating that very often, though... Anyways...**_

_**Yea. I'm sucking at this hiatus thing. That's good for you guys though since you get an update and everything. This one felt a bit weird rereading it, but I hope you guys liked it anyways.**_

_**Please do review! Reviews make me REALLY happy. Also add to alerts, favorites, PM me any suggestions, and suggest this story to your friends if you like. (That was me trying to be inconspicuous about telling you guys to tell people about this...) Thanks!**_

_**Bye! IF YOU SNEEZED WHILE READING THEN BLESS YOU.(:**_


	12. Chapter 12

We pack our few belongings into our backpacks and follow Gale down the steps, Johanna bringing up the rear. I am right behind Gale and I have no choice but to trust him as we all head down the narrow staircase silently. I leave an envelope on the desk containing a note, the room key, and some money just in case anybody stops by to ask about us later. The money should help keep the owner's minds in case any unwanted questions are asked.

Gale opens the front door and checks to make sure that the coast is clear, then slinks into the dark of the night. He is followed by myself, my mother, Aramis, and Johanna close behind. As always I constantly check over my shoulder, hoping that we aren't getting trailed. Honestly, I'm surprised at how Cameron never found our motel before. Did he plan catching me in that alleyway? Was that kid sent by him? Or was it all simply a coincidence? Unfortunately, I don't believe in simple 'coincidences'. Paranoia always wins out in the end with me. Is there someone dictating my every move? Predicting what I'll do next and placing bets? Am I just a part of their elaborate plan to make a caged bird sing? Were they the one who somehow got the tracker jacker venom to all of a sudden flare up again inside of my dad, or to cause mom's panic attacks? Rage flares up inside of me as I consider all of these options. I will admit that some of them are more reasonable than others...

Suddenly Gale stops at a corner and I almost bump into him as I think about everything that has happened in the past few days. He gives a hand signal that means stop at his side and I duplicate it. He starts making many weird hand signals and I sense my mother nod in understanding behind me. I turn to face her, a look of utter confusion on my face, and she whispers, "Patrols."

I nod and face ahead once again, eager to start moving around again. My breath is starting to make clouds in the air as the temperature drops so I quickly cover it up and start looking around frantically as if that had immediately been a beacon to everyone that stated 'HEY! I'M OVER HERE! COME AND GET ME! MOCKINGJAY'S DAUGHTER OVER HERE!'

"Why's the patrol taking so long?" I hear Johanna hiss from behind me and I smile slightly; her attitude even shows through her tone. I'd be personally impressed if she could put venom into her words when simply saying "Mommy, could you please pass the salt?"

I watch Gale closely, waiting to see him make some hand signals or something, but all that he does is give a simple shrug of the shoulders. We wait a while longer and he finally goes, and I can just imagine Johanna throwing her hands into the air as if shouting 'Finally!'

We walk for quite a while until we reach the richer part of town. I may never have been here before, but you could easily tell if you were looking. Instead of a simple wooden house, these houses are either brick or stone. I'm not surprised.

After what seems like an eternity of walking, we reach a marble house and Gale starts to simply walk us out to the back. We see a small house seemingly built into a tree and I stare at it in amazement; I've only ever seen such wonders in books.

Gale strides over towards it and it's all I can do to follow. He starts climbing up so I follow and once we are all finally gathered up there, I take a look around. It looks just like the ones in my books. It's full of childsized furniture, even some larger furniture for their parents to keep an eye on them. Gale walks to the center of the room where the large scaled seals of Districts 2 and 12 are combined. It is simply split down the middle to show where one ends and another begins.

With his and Johanna's instruction we gather around him. He goes and starts talking to the very center of the seals, and I start to question his sanity. Then, plates start to rise from the seal. Johanna ushers us each onto one and I stand there, trying hard not to think of the Games. It is obvious that my mother is trying hard to fight off one of her attacks but it's inevitable. There's simply been too much going wrong with our family emotionally not to break down, even for a sane person. The plates begin to descend, freezing us in place to make sure we stay on without the need of a tube.

We are slowly lowered into a large, military issued looking room. It has a few rows of beds with a trunk at the foot of each one. I see archways branching off to different areas, but I don't have the heart to investigate at the moment. I jump off of my plate and look around in wonder. "Where are we?"

"A safe house." Johanna answers automatically.

"I never would have guessed that. I thought it was the grocery store. Seriously, where? Whose backyard is this?"

Johanna draws in breath to give a sarcastic answer, but Gale cuts her off and says, "It's our backyard. You're in our hidden safe house."

* * *

"Well, you always did have an escape plan ready, Gale." My mother says, throwing her bag to the ground and collapsing onto a bed.

"I know you're drawing a map of this place in your head, Catnip."

"Can we, I don't know, lay off the nicknames before we are dragged kicking and screaming down memory lane?" I ask looking disgusted but switching to a smile to let them know I'm joking.

"Yea, I'd rather not go there. Come on, Gale. Before our guards come to check on you to make sure you're tucked in all nice and cozy and give you your midnight snacks if you're hungry." She starts slurring her words at the end, making it childlike and cute as she talks about what his guards supposedly do the way an adult thinks they should talk to an infant.

He shoots her a look and they bid us goodnight and step onto their plates which take them up to the tree house. I watch them until they're gone and immediately start searching the place to see if it's bugged, or if there are hidden cameras anywhere. I come up empty handed and earn several dirty looks from my mother.

"He's really a good man, Mags. Just give him a chance and don't judge him or be too hard on him." She finally says as I go to double check.

"I'll believe it when I see him not kill a bunch of kids."

"You never saw it..." Her voice grows quiet and I immediately feel horrible. She's remembering what she's seen all because of me. Nobody deserves to see that once, let alone all of the times it has replayed in her mind. I watch as her eyes glaze over and can only watch helplessly as she starts to thrash around and scream. I know that she will keep going until her throat is raw and her limbs sore. Heck, sometimes it seems like she will never stop.

Aramis shoots me a dirty look and goes to our mother, trying to calm her down. She hits him multiple times before he is able to pin her down and actually make some progress. I sit on the bed next to them, watching sadly as she screams at the top of her lungs. I lean forward and bury my face in my hands; I can't stand to see it, but I feel like I need to be close to her.

Suddenly she stops screaming and I lift my face out of my hands to see the reason why. She stares at the ceiling, eyes vacant. I cringe back suddenly and start sobbing hysterically. My father described those eyes countless times to me, full of life and joy at times. Anger. Fear. But at least there was something there. He also described seeing Bogs' eyes on their mission in the Capitol. Empty. Vacant. Exactly like how my mother's eyes looked now.

Dead.

* * *

_**I kind of want to leave you guys on a cliff hanger for a while, but I already haven't updated in quite a while. At least by my standards I haven't updated in a while...**_

_**I promise to update Untrusted too, just for those of you who might be interested. (It's Ranger's Apprentice. I would highly suggest reading that series if you haven't already. It's by John Flanagan.) Maybe even Property of the Capitol. I've been mostly writing for my original story, which I hope will be published one day.**_

_**Yea, I'm blabbering. Happy Holidays everyone! Turkey Day is tomorrow! And my older brother's birthday was a few days ago! He turned 18, but he still acts like a 7 year old... Oh well.**_

_**You know the drill, favorite and such. Don't forget to review! You have no idea how much they mean to me.(:**_

_**Bye for now!**_


	13. Chapter 13

I grab the pillow on the bed, bury my face into it, and scream. I don't stop for air, I simply keep screaming until my throat is raw. I take large gasping breaths through the feather filled nightmare for a long time, not sure when I want to stop. I take my face out of the pillow and stare at it in disbelief as I see that it is stained with tears. _My _tears.

"MOM!" I scream, my voice breaking at the pure shrillness of my voice. She doesn't respond and I shakily get to my feet, immediately falling to my knees as my legs turn to gelatin underneath me. I crawl to her bedside and Aramis makes way for me, in shock. I crawl the rest of the way to her side and sob; it all of a sudden dawns on me that Aramis has never seen me cry like this before.

Aramis moves to the other side of the bed, hovering with an extremely worried expression on his face. At least a bit of what has happened has begun to sink in.

I sniffle loudly and stifle my sobs, trying to compose myself as I gingerly take my mother's hand in mine. Her skin is quickly growing cold. And in such a... Foreign place. She couldn't even die at home. My other hand shakes as I bring my fingers to her wrist, checking for a pulse. A sob escapes, along with a trail of tears down my face, as I find none. I don't feel her familiar breath on my wrist as my shaking hand goes up to her face, closing her dead eyes.

I look up at Aramis' face, and I can tell that he already knows the answer to his unspoken question, he's known since I shed that first tear. I give a final nod of confirmation anyways, giving him permission to cry.

Instead of tears of sorrow, those of anger are what I see falling to the ground, glittering slightly in the light. The tears do nothing to extinguish or at least contain the flames in his eyes; fire beats all.

His fists clench in fury and it's all I can do not to start crying again; seeing him in such pain is almost unbearable.

In his anger, he turns and punches the wall with his left fist. The cracking of bone is audible from where I sit, but I do nothing to stop him. He's been through a lot, and he needs to blow off some steam one way or another. Besides, I'm not exactly eager to become his human punching bag.

It finally dawns on me that he needs me right now. He needs me to stay strong for him, and to help him through this. I slowly rise up on my uncertain, clumsy feet and start to make my way slowly to his side.

Suddenly, as quick as a striking snake, he whirls toward our mother's deathbed and slaps her hard across the face.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" I shriek, snapping out of it as I simply jumpi over the bed to Aramis' side. I easily clear the short distance as he slaps her once again.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" He shouts, emotion causing his voice to crack in places.

"ARAMIS!" I scream as he stretches back his hand to slap her once more. I take both of his wrists in my hands and hold his flaming gaze for a few seconds. I can sense his unease as he sees the insanity in my eyes. "SHE'S DEAD! SHE'S DEAD, OKAY? GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD, DAMMIT! SHE. IS. DEAD! SHE- SHE- She's..." I begin to break down, withering under his gaze. Then, I simply crumple to my knees, the energy sucked out of me, his wrists released.

"No, she's not... She can't be..." He whispers quietly, almost to himself. I simply sit there on the rough ground, hopeless and staring at my hands like they're a new addition to my body. I simply flinch as his hand comes into contact with her skin, creating a horribly raw sound.

I jump and stare, my eyes the size of saucers, as my mothers takes large gasps of air from her bed.

* * *

"So... She was never dead?"

"No. She just went into cardiac arrest." Gale says, packing up his med kit and leaving my mother quietly sleeping on her bed. I give a sigh of relief as I see her chest rising and falling at even intervals.

"Thank goodness." I follow him into a supply area, full of everything you could even possibly need. He puts the medical kit back into a small shelf in the wall and goes to a cabinet seemingly built into the wall of the cave with 2 solid metal doors protruding from it, completely out of place. He holds his thumb up against a scanner and it makes a small beeping sound of admittance. The doors glide open and he begins searching through to find the bottle of pills he has in there. "Damn, Gale. Are you a drug dealer on the side, or something?" I ask as I realize just how many bottles are in the cabinet.

"A lot of these are poison. Only to be used in emergencies where death is better than whatever hell the person, or thing, is bringing." He answers nonchalantly closing the doors and taking out a rag to wipe the scanner with. Now nobody will be able to get in, unless they have him. Or at least his fingerprint. "Give these to your mother, but don't let her know that she's taking them."

"Why?" I ask suspiciously, eyeing the orange bottle he has handed me.

"You know how she doesn't like using Capitol products." He says with a simple shrug as we walk out of the supply area. He hits the switch and lights go off behind us.

He's right. She flat out avoids using Capitol made drugs no matter what. She's probably been that way since my Aunt died. She was working with Capitol made drugs, trying to help people, when she died. Almost anything associated with her death now made her shrink away into her impenetrable shell.

"I have to leave now, my guards check on me almost hourly. They want to make sure that I don't silently die in the middle of the night."

"What a shame that would be," I mutter under my breath, but he ignores me.

"Slip the pills into her food or something. Don't crush them. And next time, use this to call me instead of that damned panic button. It sets off a silent alarm, and it annoys the heck out of Johanna." He says, holding up his arm for me to see his communicuff, then handing me one of my own.

I smile sheepishly and ask, "Why would it alert you before the police if it's a panic button?" I had gone to the control panel where the plates were and found the panic button there, and immediately pressed it. If I wasn't panicking, then I'll need someone to give me a definition.

"Because I have it set that way. Once I die, the cuff will know and send a signal to the panic system to start automatically sending the distress alert to the authorities. Other from that, it will have to be approved by me before it is sent to the authorities."

I nod and he steps onto a plate. I barely noticed we had walked past my mother already. Aramis sits at her side, watching her sleep with a worried expression on his face. If he hadn't slapped her, she would have died. And I tried to stop him from saving her.

"Yes, Magnolia. Again, it was necessary for him to slap her to get her blood flowing once again." Gale sighs as he turns around to catch me staring at them.

"I know..." I say quietly. He nods, and with that, he rises up to the treehouse, leaving me to wallow in my guilt, the cold metal of the communicuff nipping at my fingers.

* * *

I simply don't trust this place. At all. While mom sleeps on the bed Aramis had restrained her on last night, I stay awake and search the place to see if I can find anything useful. Just a bunch of survival equipment, which will probably come in handy.

"Find anything?" Aramis asks, walking up to me as I search through a cardboard box in the supplies room.

"Jackpot," I say as I pull a length of rope out from the box.

"What's that for?" He asks, confused.

"They're restraints, just in case anyone else feels like going crazy."

* * *

I'm back at home, standing in the kitchen. I look around, confused as to how I got here, but then I decide that it doesn't matter. I glance out the window and realize that it must be the middle of the night judging from the amount of light streaming in.

I start looking around but I don't see any signs of life anywhere. "Mom? Aramis?" I ask, my voice shaky as I start towards the stairs as quietly as I can. Nobody answers and I flinch as the step creaks slightly under my weight, but nobody comes rushing out to attack me so I must be alright. For now, at least. I quickly ascend the remaining steps and come upon Aramis' room. I look around to make sure no one can see me and grasp the cold doorknob. I turn it and the door glides open easily with no sound and I slip in, closing it softly behind me. I head over to his bed where he sleeps silently, facing away from me while laying on his side.

"Aramis? Aramis? Wake up," I say quietly as I approach the bed. He doesn't respond so I lightly grasp his shoulder and turn him onto his back.

I scream at the top of my lungs as his body turns but his detached head stays the same. His cold, dead skin is blistered and burnt underneath the crimson soaked sheets. Only now do I smell the horrible scent of burnt flesh in the air. They burned him, and then they cut off his head while he was still barely alive. Whoever _they _are. It doesn't matter; I'll kill them.

I fall shakily to my knees and start crying hysterically, shouting out Aramis' name as if that will bring my baby brother back. I don't bother to quiet down or turn on the lights; it doesn't matter who hears me, and I don't want to see how bad it really is.

My screams cut off completely as I hear a creak on the stairs and my eyes widen in horror. My screams haven't helped me at all; just the opposite, actually. They've brought me to my death.

I hear the doorknob turn behind me and then the quiet sound of it being closed behind them. I rise, trying hard not to shake too hard. "I don't care who the hell you are. You killed my-my little brother. I'll kill you with my bare hands if I have to." My voice comes out as a throaty growl, almost as if it is a warning to them. I slowly turn around and come face to face with the blonde little girl in all of the pictures and I once again scream, not stopping this time.

"Mags! Wake up!" Someone shakes me awake as I lie on the sofa, screaming and thrashing around.

I prop myself up onto my elbow and look around; Aramis is on his knees by my side, a concerned look on his face.

I take in a shaky breath and wrap my arms around him in an embrace. Slowly he puts his arms around me as well as I sob into his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" He asks, obviously confused.

"Nothing that you need or want to know about." I say, images and stories of my dead aunt swimming through my mind.

* * *

_**I've been saving the changes I made to this like crazy because I had it done, then I lost all of it. ALL of it. So now I'm kind of REALLY pissy, and yea... Happy Thanksgiving guys! Or, as Cry (aka Chaoticmonki) calls it, Happy American Fat Day! XD (Even though it's like... 2 days after... And you guys probably don't want to hear my excuses.)**_

_**Anyways... I am thankful for you all reading this, favoriting, reviewing, adding to alerts and so on. I love you guys.(:**_

_**Bwuh bwuh bwuk bwuh bwuh bwuh buh-bye. (That more a chicken than a turkey... But let's just say I'm animally confused...)**_


	14. Chapter 14

I listen to the even breaths of my mother and Aramis for a while, making sure that they really are asleep. Silently, I slip out of my bed. The stone floor is cold under my feet and feels even worse as I go to my knees. I pull the envelope out from underneath my pillow where I had been cradling it for a long while and slip it in between the box spring and the mattress; hopefully, they won't find it very soon.

* * *

"I want to leave. Now." My voice reverberates around the walls of the commons, adding a sinister edge to it. It must have rained last night; the air is damp and extremely humid even down here. I calmly tie my hair back into a ponytail as if this is the most normal thing that has ever come out of my mouth.

The look on Gale's face is priceless. He looks angry and baffled as he stares at me blankly, trying to make sure that he heard me correctly. "Excuse me? You ask for a safe house, and I gave you one. Then after a few days you want to leave for some reason?"

"Exactly. Now if you don't mind showing me the door..."

"Mags! I don't want to leave! It's safe here, and there's a whole room of cool gadgets!" Aramis protests as he barges into the conversation, his voice ringing out in the otherwise silent room. I turn around to see his face full of anger and hurt; I hadn't included him in any of this. I hadn't even decided until I wrote that letter.

"I don't plan on taking you or mom with me, Aramis. Cato's nephew said that people wanted to hurt _me_. Not you and not mom. _Me_. I'm putting you guys in danger by staying here with you, so I'm leaving."

"Oh my g- You just always had to have your way. It was always your way or no way. But you can't leave us here alone! If you want to go, then fine, we'll go! I'll get over it. But it's going to have to be all of us. There's no way you're going alone."

"Yes, there is. I'm leaving you guys here where I know it's safe and I'm going to get out of here. End. Of. Discussion."

"It's not safe for you out there, Mags. You have to stay here." Gale argues, joining Aramis' side.

"I never said it would be. Now are you going to escort me or am I going to have to blow this whole damned place sky high to get out of here?"

"Fine," Gale grumbles as he meets the steady look in my eyes; he knows that I'm not bluffing. He must have noticed a few of his little gadgets missing. But you can't exactly blame me; I'll probably need a few explosives and some basic navigating tools.

"Whoa whoa whoa. You aren't leaving, Mags. I'm your mother and I get a large say in what happens to you. And guess what? I say that you aren't going anywhere!" My mother materializes right behind me and I jump at the sound of her voice. Wonderful; 2 people jumping into a private conversation. One of which was dead just a few days ago; I've got to admit, she's been doing quite well since then, but this must have triggered something. She looks mad. In both ways.

"You're not my mother." I say quietly as I stare at the ground, hoping to find a distraction to take my mind off of things. Maybe even something to fix this whole situation. No such luck.

"What? Of course I am! Stop acting like a crazy person and just stop with this nonsense." She says, taking a step back in shock. The words must sting her, but I won't be taking them back, nor do I regret them. The only way I'll get out of here is to wound her. It leaves an escape route open for me.

"You're not my mother, and you can't tell me what to do. I'm going to leave and there's nothing you can do to stop me." I push past her and head towards the bed I slept on the past 2 days. I pull open the trunk and grab my fully packed bag. I open it and run down a mental checklist of everything that I need, then head towards the kitchen area.

"Magnolia. Lae. Mellark. Put that bag away and keep that ego of yours in check, before it grows to the size of a building." She growls, following me with short, fast steps that translate her anger into unspoken words. Her graying hair is a mess, and I feel awful for saying what I am and doing what I'm doing, but I won't be admitting that to her any time soon.

I reach the cabinets and silently put a few cans of food into the bag. I choke down a sob as I read the label of one of them and quickly stuff it into my bag, pulling the zipper shut afterwards. "Gale. I'm leaving now."

"Gale. No, she isn't."

"Yes, I am. Now let's go." My voice grows low and intense as I turn to meet my mother's eyes. I stop myself from wincing as I spot the coldness that she is showing me. I can't let her see that I don't want to go. This is something that I have to do.

Gale simply shrugs but I can sense his uneasiness. He doesn't enjoy picking sides. "I'm sorry, Catnip."

"GALE!" My mother shrieks, the look on her face absolutely feral, and he cringes slightly.

She stares daggers at me and I wince. "Love you too, then." I mutter under my breath and I follow Gale to the metal plates. He says a complicated string of commands that leaves my head spinning and motions for me to mount. I step onto it and Aramis gingerly comes over and gives me a bear hug that makes the pain in my ribs flare up once again.

"I'm gonna miss you, Mags. Nobody was ever as much fun to annoy as you." He says softly and I pat his back, signalling for him to let go. Slowly, almost unwillingly, his arms release me and I give him a weak smile. He must be giving me a break since our Mother isn't.

"Glad I could be such a joy, Aramis. I'll see you later," I choke out, not ready to alert him to what I have up my sleeve. If all goes as planned, then I won't be coming back.

* * *

"Where are you planning to go?" Gale asks as we slowly rise.

"Do you want my honest answer or something that will help you sleep tonight?" I snap at him and the plates halt to a stop with a high pitched squeak.

"Probably honest; I won't be losing any sleep over you." He makes a lame attempt at a joke, but I don't find it humorous. It's probably true. I make my way to the exit of the treehouse and begin climbing down slowly.

"Tell Aramis to give her mom the pills, and give him the same directions you gave me. After one week, you guys can do whatever the hell you want with what I left behind. I've never liked personal items. But just remember for exactly _one week _from now: _in between my box spring and mattress. _That's all you need to know, and honestly, I won't be telling you anything else."

"Ok, I can handle all of that. But you still haven't answered my question," he says and I glance up at him.

When I'm only a few feet above the ground I jump down and then I bound off like a rabbit out of Gale's large backyard.

"Honestly, even I don't know yet," I call over my shoulder. Before he is able to respond, I quickly hop over the fence and run into the somewhat comforting darkness of the night.

* * *

_**Hai... I haven't seen you guys in a while... Not that long of a while, but still... A while... Awkward...**_

_**Lulz. Anyways, I hope you liked it. Remember the things in bold she told Gale to do. REMEMBER! Damn, that reminded me of The Forgotten Games... (It was my first fanfiction.)**_

_**Review, add to alerts, favorite, or PM me any suggestions. Thanks.(:**_

_**Bwuh bwyee. :D**_


	15. Chapter 15

My original plan was to take off running recklessly, and to not stop. After about an hour of keeping up a steady pace, though, I have to stop and catch my breath on a bench. I get cold fast as the beads of sweat on my skin cool in the freezing air of the night. My hot breath makes a cloud in front of me and a childlike giddiness at the sight of it rises inside of me; it's getting closer and closer to winter. And from what I've heard, winters are rough in District 2.

I decide to get out of here as fast as possible, and I know that I shouldn't use any form of public transportation. I would be too easily tracked. Which is exactly why I go to a motel that night in the middle of the District and pay for a room in my name. No questions asked. It's also why I'll be heading out of town on a train tomorrow, letting everyone in town know.

I don't sleep. At all. I simply pace around my room until morning, anxiously awaiting the start of a new day.

When day finally does come, I check out and talk loudly to the clerk about how I plan on going to District 3. I'd be surprised if Aramis and my mother didn't hear me from the safe house all the way across town._  
_

I head to the train station, acting drunk and speaking loudly to everyone I happen to fall against. They hold me up politely, but the disgust in their eyes is clear. It doesn't matter; I need to let everyone know. _Especially_ those who might be working with Cameron. I've got to admit that I am pretty darn convincing. After observing Haymitch all of these years, it's like second nature to me. It also comes in handy when we play charades and makes for a nice conversation starter.

It takes me double the time to get to the train station than it probably should have, but I did have a lot of time in the first place and falling against complete strangers is _always _necessary.

"Hullo, I'd like a one-way ticket to District 3 please...?" I say politely to the lady behind the reinforced glass, perfectly sober.

"Of course, dear. Is it just you?" She asks, trying to get a look behind me to see if my mother is somewhere around here.

"No no, just me." I say, sliding my money through the hole at the bottom of the window. Almost grudgingly, she slides me my ticket and barks for the next person in line. I smirk and keep on walking towards my platform to wait.

I take a seat in the cold, hard seat and place my bag next to me, my arm looped through the straps. I dig through it and find a few locks. Bingo. I place them through the zippers, memorizing their combinations before I do so. This way nobody will be able to get into my bag but me; these locks were a 10th birthday gift from Beetee. They're pretty much indestructible, and I'm the only one who knows how to open them.

"What're you doing all alone here, sweet cheeks?" A man says, putting his arm around me. His dirty blonde hair is gelled into a mohawk, and it slightly suits him. His blue eyes are sharp, similar to the way his face is. His prominent jawline compliments his slightly prominent cheekbones, and overall he is handsome. Too bad he spilled a scent shop on himself. I try not to gag on his strong cologne, and I examine the expensive detailing on the cuffs of his handmade shirt before I unwrap myself and push him away.

"Trying to avoid creeps like you." I say, my eyes hard. His gaze meets mine but slowly sidles away and I smirk, clearly victorious. If he can't even meet my gaze he must be a coward.

"Ouch, that one hurt. _Burned_ even." He says knowingly, eyebrows raised.

I lean in close to the disgusting man and whisper so that only he can hear me. "Some burns don't heal. Know who you're dealing with before you go around threatening them, you piece of scum. Don't think for one second that I will even _hesitate_ to knock you out cold and torture you for information. Now tell me what I want to know while I'm still playing nice. And trust me, this Phoenix isn't planning on using its tears to heal your wounds once you're down."

"Me? What would I know?" He asks, smiling innocently, scooting a bit closer to me.

I grab his wrist as his hand moves towards me and I rip off the cuff. "I know this symbol. I'm no idiot."

"Any trouble here, boss?" A man walks up to us and eyes me suspiciously; he looks about ready to rip my head off, and I don't doubt for a second that he couldn't do it. His muscles are obvious, even underneath the suit he's wearing, which is almost identical to his "boss.'"

"No trouble at all," I answer and I glare at him sternly. He meets my gaze head on and I throw the cuff to the ground. "Touch me again and it won't be the cuff that I'm tearing off." I growl at his boss and walk away. I look back and see that he is smiling victoriously at me in a sickly sweet way; the way only a son of the mob would be able to do. A son of the mob, and a relative of Cameron.

* * *

To say it nicely, Cato's family was _seriously _messed up. His dad was a mob boss, and a few years back his sister, Cameron's mom, was killed. My parents were among the first to know, and I "just happened" to be out in the hallway, close enough to hear their conversation with Paylor herself. Her image was shown on TV as they reported the story. She had looked like a female version of Cato, just a bit nicer.

I had only glanced at Cameron's face for a second, and I'm still not sure if he looks like either Cato or his mother from those few seconds from both times he jumped me, but I'm sure of one thing; that man was his father. His sickly sweet, disgusting way of speaking was just like Cameron's. I'm just not sure that I would want to push the envelope when being threatened by his daddy. Or his crew.

With that thought, I start heading toward the ticket booth once again.

* * *

"Ticket?"

"Hm?"

"Your ticket, ma'am. I'll need to see your ticket before I can let you on board." The conductor says in an overly patient voice, sighing slightly as he does so.

"Oh." I say dumbly, handing him the slip of paper. He scans it, nods, and moves to let me on board.

"Enjoy your trip to District 5, ma'am."

* * *

_**I lied, I know. Last minute change. Besides, birds don't exactly get caged easily, do they?(; Well, TO HOGWARTS! Wait... Wrong fandom... I'll use my invisibility cloak to hide from you guys before you burn me at the stake or something... Don't worry about it...**_

_**I'm just gonnna rant in the next paragraph, so you can skip it... :p**_

_**Ok, my test was horrible. I didn't know anyone in my testing room, and there were strange questions. There were questions about zealots taking over the world and a clinically depressed, antisocial man going to therapy. I was cracking up on the inside slightly when I read them, though... I'm just glad it's over, though!**_

_**Anyways, please do review, add to alerts, favorite, or PM me any suggestions. (I have no idea what the heck I'm doing right now, so yea... I'm not in love with my mob idea, either...)**_

_**Well, I kept half of my promise so far. (I'm writing for Untrusted next. You know what that means? NO SLEEP FOR ME! YAY!) Bye!**_

_**(I'm kidding about the staying up late for Untrusted... THIS TIME... Mostly because Cry is having a livestream... And... Yea...)**_


	16. Chapter 16

I step off of the train, trying to work the stiffness out of my legs. I walk out the door of the station and out into the streets of District 5. I can almost _feel _the faint traces of electricity in the air. The cold, crisp air nips at my exposed face and I regret not bringing my scarf; it will probably be burned or destroyed by Dad by now.

The buildings begin to tower over me menacingly as thoughts of home swirl in my mind, closing in on me.

**"I've been looking for you, Baby Mockingjay."**

**"I'm not the only one after your blood, baby Mockingjay!"**

**"That's the point."**

**"You just don't want me to find him cuz he likes me more than you! You hate him!"**

**"Because Gale's there."**

**"Why don't you guys ever tell me anything?"**

** "Dad always told me to stay away from the rest of the family."**

**"Don't play with fire if you don't want to get burned."**

Of all of the words plaguing my thoughts, the ones that keep coming back to me are my own. "The note..." I mutter as I cover my ears, trying to block out the other voices in my head. I try to remember it, word for word, as I sink to my knees, sobbing in the middle of the sidewalk.

_To Anyone Who Cares,  
_

_I won't be coming back to District 2. I won't be coming back to my family. I won't be coming back, period._

_I will go wherever I feel necessary to keep them my family safe, no matter the cost. Remember that._

_Cameron wants me, not anyone else. He wants to hurt mom. I've already disappointed her so many times before, so why not one last time? Just for old time's sake?_

_I'd rather have my mother be hurt by me than some monster from Cato's family. Cato has done more than enough to her._

_Hopefully, you will understand my plan and why I'm doing it. If not, then I'm sorry. This will look like a mistake to you, but it will be my last one._

_I'll miss you. Goodbye._

_Magnolia._

* * *

I simply sit there on my knees, hands over my face, as traffic flows around me. I hear people muttering obscene words and watch with blurry vision as their shoes scuffle past on the hard, stone ground.

"Are you okay?"

"No," I mutter, thinking it's just a voice in my head. Why else would a male voice be checking to see if I'm okay?

"What's wrong?" A comforting hand is placed on my shoulder and I jump to my feet; being touched by people isn't exactly my favorite thing in the world.

"Don't." I growl as I turn to face him.

He's got at least 5 inches on me, and his red hair is tousled. It compliments his sly, mischievous appearance; I can't help but think that at least half of the girls around us stare at me like I'm crazy as I spin on my heel and start walking away from him. It really is no small feat, walking away from him. His hypnotic amber eyes are almost impossible to ignore. The thing is, in all of the old movies my parents have showed me, he would have played the town's "Bad Boy" that every girl went after. Too bad I would never be one of those kinds of girls.

"Hey, I was just trying to be courteous and you won't even give me the time of day?" He says, falling into step with me. I ignore him and speed up a bit, but he notices and easily adjusts.

I sigh as he patiently waits for my answer and say, "Obviously not. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the Justice Building."

"Well, then you obviously need my help since you're heading _away _from the Justice Building." He replies and I feel my cheeks burn.

"Can you just leave me alone?"

"No, I can't."

"Why not?"

"You tell me, Ms. Mellark," he says casually, slightly arching one of his eyebrows at me.

Me eyes widen and I pull him into the doorway of one of the buildings we pass by. "Who are you and how do you know who I am?" I search his eyes desperately, holding him by his collar as I pull him down slightly so we can be at eye level.

"Can't you tell when you find a Fox, little Mockingjay?" He asks innocently, his smile lighting up his face. I can feel his warm breath and only now do I realize how close we actually are. It's then I also realize what I'm doing and how much unwanted attention I am getting from quite a few people passing by as they give me suspicious glares.

I let go of him and he dusts himself off slightly. "Foxface..." I breathe quietly.

"Yes. It took you long enough. Now, did you pick this doorway out on purpose?" He asks, looking above us. I follow his gaze and see the mistletoe hung there, which only serves to make my cheeks grow even warmer. Whose genius idea was it to start kissing under a poisonous plant, anyways?

"I'm leaving and I would suggest that you don't follow me." I say curtly, quickly hurrying out with what dignity I had left. I slip slightly on a small patch of ice but regain my balance before he is able to reach me.

"Why not?" He asks, hurrying after me. "What exactly would you do if I didn't obey Your Highness' every command?"

"You've seen Foxface's Hunger Games right? And how she thrashed around, trying hard not to scream in pain after eating the Nightlock?"

"Of course." He says in a hushed tone, and I know that I've gone a bit too personal, but I can't back down from this threat or else he'll never leave me alone. If I'm going to achieve what I've come here to do, then I'm going to have to be prepared to hurt people. No matter who they are, or how painful it will even be for me.

"I know of poisons much more painful than Nightlock," I say, fixing my gaze on him as he walks alongside me.

"You sure do know how to charm a guy," he mutters under his breath.

I smirk slightly and say, "So I've been told."

* * *

I look over my should as I enter the back door of the building, checking to make sure that nobody is following me. The dark, filthy alleyway simply makes my skin crawl, as if I'm already infested with who-knows-how-many diseases. I lift my foot up and push down on the ancient, rusted door handle. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but you never know... Especially when you're in the bad part of town. Besides, I won't make things easy and leave my fingerprints everywhere for everyone to find.

The smell of mildew and human waste immediately hits me so I gag the minute the door swings open. I take a few steps in and can't help but put my sleeve over my mouth and nose; this place is vile. Normally, I would _never _even _think _about going to a place such as this. Then again, if I were normal, I wouldn't even know that places like this existed.

Garbage and who knows what else lie on the floor. Everywhere. I sift through it all disgustedly; I'll have to wash myself dozens of times to at least feel like a human being after all of this.

The stench seeps past my barrier and I simply lower my arm; it's useless to try and protect myself from a nuclear bomb with a tiny wooden shield. As I work to take each step farther and farther into the building, closer to the inner rooms, I remind myself of why I'm here: _information._

Back home in District 12, Aramis hung out with a bad crowd of older kids for a while. A few were in my grade, so I had confronted them... With a bow and arrow. I got kicked out of school for about a month, so what? I'd rather Aramis be a loner than hanging out with druggies in some alleyway. He's my little brother, and I've got to look out for him.

Anyways, before I even had time to even nock the arrow, they had started blabbing out information like there was no tomorrow. I learned quite a few things, like where to get a joint in every single district in Panem, in the time it took me to slowly draw back the bowstring.

This was one of those places.

* * *

_**Okay, okay, she's going to get drugs and get high. The end.**_

_**Hahaha, just kidding. I'm still working on everything. Don't worry about it, guys. I just had to add this in here... I don't know why... Fluff? Yea. Let's say I was just adding a bunch of fluff in here. I'll get to something meaningful to make progress... Hopefully soon.**_

_**Well, add to alerts, favorite, PM me any suggestions, and review please.c:**_

_**Bye!**_


	17. Chapter 17

I cough up a mouthful of blood and look straight back at my attackers: 3 large men, all well muscled and much stronger than I am. _Especially _when they decide to tie me up by my wrists, suspend me from the ceiling, and use me as a human punching bag.

"I'll kill you..." I mutter, but it comes out sounding like just a random string of moans through the pain caused by my swollen, split lip. My right eye throbs and I know that it is badly bruised; every part of me aches and throbs at the same rate as my heart. It feels like they've been beating me for hours now.

"What's that, Princess?" One of the men mocks. I never should have come here. Drug dealers in District 12 are dangerous; these guys are plain deadly. "Did you wanna say anything? Any last words to mommy or daddy?" He comes closer and I kick him in the stomach.

"I have no parents." I say, louder this time. The only good thing about this whole situation so far is that they haven't recognized me; and at the rate that they are throwing these punches, they won't be any time soon. I'm not sure if even Aramis would be able to recognize me at this point, my face is so swollen.

He lets loose a long, loud string of cusses and backs away. The next man is a bit more cautious.

"Speak up!" He shouts angrily; he's been throwing most of the punches, and it hurts like hell. He punches me in the stomach and all of the air immediately leaves my body. I swear I hear a crack, and I confirm the fact that one of my ribs is broken when I have far too much trouble expanding my lungs to breathe. I simply sound like an asthmatic without their inhaler as I feebly try, and fail, to breathe normally.

I smile at him and start laughing manically. "You'll never get the information from me." This earns another punch right in the gut. I'm on a roll.

"Son of a..." I growl under my breath, which only serves to piss him off even more.

"I TOLD YOU TO SPEAK. THE HELL. UP!"

"I'll never rat out Cameron." And with that, he punches me one last time in the jaw and I gratefully slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

Unfortunately, telling these people I was a friend of Cameron's wasn't the best idea in the world. It looks like these drug dealers weren't friendly with any of the members in Cameron's little mafia.

When I finally do come back into consciousness, it's not of my own free accord. I shiver hysterically as the men laugh like lunatics, one of them holding an empty bucket as my hair plasters to my face from the ice cold water. Maybe I'll catch pneumonia and die before they can beat me to death for information that I'm only pretending to have. Or maybe I should tell them I don't actually have the damned information... And they'll believe me the day that I can sprout freaking wings and fly the hell out of here.

"Thirsty?" The third man chokes out between gasps of air as he laughs. His high, nasally voice reminds me of a rat in someway. Lucky him; he'll be nicknamed Squeak from now on.

"Not at all. But if you insist on doing something for me, you could always let me go." I work hard to make my words clear, overly cautious when pronunciating them to make it easy to understand through my swollen lips.

"Nahh, you're too much fun to have around." He says, grinning as he opens up a dark bag and starts rummaging around in it. "Besides, we have a toy for you. Maybe it will loosen up your tongue." He pulls a small black box out of it and I stare at it through my good eye uncomprehendingly. What is it?

He hands it over to the first man who smiles wickedly as he steps closer, then jabs the small box into my side. Only now do I realize what it is: a taser. My back arches and I flail around hopelessly, my arms still suspended above me. Every move I make sends a new burst of pain throughout my body, but I can't control the convulsions. Being sopping wet doesn't help either.

"I'll tell you everything I know." I can't help but let the words spill from my mouth. It's hard not to when an electric current is cooking you alive. He pulls the taser out of my side and I shiver from the after effects.

"Get on with it, then." I guess I'll call the first man Spark then, if he likes tasers so much... His finger plays over the button, waiting for me to say something wrong. He just wants another jab at me.

I mutter a string of curses under my breath then say, "They're based in District 2..." I don't even know what the hell I'm doing right now...

"We know that." The third man, Bulk, I decide to call him, interjects. He's just so much _bigger _than the other two...

"Did you know that Cameron is heading to District 3?" I don't even know if it's true, but it's where I said I was going. If he truly only wants to hurt my mother by getting rid of her only daughter, then I might as well go on a hunch.

"That, we did not know... How did you find that out? We don't know of any girls your age in the mafia."

_There's a whole lot of things that you guys don't know. For one: how to bathe._ I can only think of witty comments to make back at him, but no excuses. My brain is a jumbled mess after the shocking, and I flinch slightly as I see the small box lingering only inches away from me. "I"m Cameron's lover." _Way to make things even more complicated. _I can't control the lies that are coming from my mouth, and it hurts. Why the hell can't I even think before I act anymore? Has my fear clouded my ability to do so?

"Ahhh..." Bulk steps forward and cups my aching face in his hand. He turns it this way and that, then says, "Get in contact with District 3. We need to ask Cameron a few things..."

* * *

They've transported me to a different room; a much _cleaner _room. I'm not complaining about it.

What I'm complaining about is being displayed right in front of a camera and still being hung from my arms. The only difference now is that my legs are suspended in the air, also chained. It looks like they learned from the first time.

"How will you even get this video to Cameron? What, do you have him on speed dial or something?" I say sarcastically.

"Shut up. We're broadcasting it to all of District 3. If he's there, then he'll come running." Spark answers, unchaining one of my hands. Great. Now if only I could get the other hand free...

"Won't the authorities get involved?" I say, trying to keep them talking as I think of a way to get free.

"He doesn't literally mean all of District 3; we know where his little gang hangs out. We're sending this video there." Squeak answers; he seems much more intelligent than the other 2. This ought to be fun, trying to get one over him.

"That's just _such _a smart idea! You must truly be a-"

"Shut up, girl. I'm not stupid." He pulls on a mask and orders the other two to do the same. "Smile for the camera. Maybe then your boyfriend will save you."

* * *

"Recognize her? You should. She claims to be your lover, Cameron." Squeak says loudly from behind the camera.

"If you value her life at all, deliver 2 million in cash to us. We'll be in contact and will be sending you instructions as you go along. No authorities involved." Spark says, a sadistic look in his eyes.

"Or else we'll be doing things far worse to her the next time we have to send a video." Bulk finally adds, also stepping into view, his face also covered. He steps behind me and grabs my shoulder, then my forearm. Before I have any idea what he's doing, he pulls on my forearm. Hard.

I screech in pain as I hear the POP! of my arm being dislocated on camera.

* * *

_**Well. I don't even know anymore. I just thought I'd make Cameron run all over the place trying to find Mags. Yea. Let's go with that...**_

_**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR! For those of you who celebrate Christmas... Okay, I'm done being festive now. On with the author's note!**_

_**Anyways, review, add to alerts, favorite, or PM me any suggestions. Please and thank you.c:**_

_**Until the next chapter... See ya!**_


	18. Chapter 18

I compose myself by clenching my jaw as the searing fire travels through my arm socket; now, the room is filled with their cruel laughter as I try hard to tough it out. If mother was able to get shot on camera, then I'm sure that this is nothing. Then again, she had on protective clothing...

"Now, if you don't want her to go through this anymore, then I would suggest giving us the money. You have until February 12th." Squeak switches off the camera and sidles over to me casually as the edges of my vision begin to blur slightly. They all seem far away, then far too close all at once as the world sways around me. "Here, let me give you a hand," he grabs my shoulder quickly and I scream even louder. I catch myself and shut my mouth to bring a tight-lipped silence to the room. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long as I whimper weakly when he squeezes cruelly.

"Monsters," I spit at them.

"Say whatever you like about us; the second we find out you're lying then you won't be able to talk anymore," he smiles and a shiver travels down my spine. "First, we'll cut out your tongue. Then we'll break each and every one of your limbs... But you'll be alive. Oh, you'll be alive and awake for each and every moment of it, and it will be wonderful. Eventually, I'll just let Bulk beat you to death. There will be no bullet to simply end your life suddenly; that would be far too merciful."

"When I get out of these chains, I will strangle you with them," I try to keep my voice steady, but my calm falters at his sadistic threats.

He simply laughs and answers, "We'll see if your bravado lasts for a week. Until then... Have fun with your little aching arm, there."

The three of them simply leave the room and I can't help but shout obscenities at them, wishing for nothing more than their deaths.

"One week until Squeak's little deadline..." I mutter, trying hard not to start screaming again, this time because of the wave of pain from my arm.

I look around the room, making sure they have no way of looking in on me. I silently hope to just be able to have at least some warning if they decide to come back in.

I grab the chain suspending me from the ceiling and swing my lower body, grinding my teeth as the fire comes back even stronger than before. The metal is cheap and weak, causing my hopes to soar. I swing a bit harder, building momentum as I go along.

After a few minutes, my shoulder can take it no longer and I gratefully drop back down just as I hear footsteps rapidly approaching outside the door. I catch my breath and compose myself as best I can when you're thinking of slitting your throat just to escape the pain. My little escape act won't be working as long as my arm is dislocated.

"Your little boyfriend has already responded. It looks like we're in for a little road trip, girl." Bulk bursts through the door, only to be quickly followed by the other two. He crosses the room to me in a few strides and knocks me out with a single punch.

* * *

"Wake up."

I ignore the voice and turn away from it, not wanting to do anything but slip into a never ending sleep from all of the pain my body is putting me through. Then, a box is jabbed into my side and I wake up screaming from the shock of the taser.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you guys have damaged her quite enough already, as far as I could tell from the video. That's quite enough."

I open my eyes immediately as I hear the familiar voice, but all I see is blackness. "What's going on?" I shout, but find that I have been gagged and a sack has been placed over my head. The gag tears at corners of my mouth, and I taste blood.

"Take that sack off of her face; I want to see that it's really her. And... I want to talk to her."

I'm unsure of the reason as to why my blood has all of a sudden run cold, just now. It's either because of the taser being shoved into me once more, or the fact that I've finally connected the voice to an unseen Cameron.

The tough sack is pulled off of my face roughly and Bulk simply rips the gag off, causing the cuts at the corners of my mouth to grow even larger.

My vision adjusts to the sudden light and I see that I am in a large warehouse. Cameron stand a couple of feet away, 3 bulky, armed men standing behind him. Crates of illegal goods are stacked at my sides, towering threateningly over me. I suddenly feel very small in complete fear of them collapsing in on me...

Then, before I am able to take in any more of my surroundings, Cameron has crossed over to me and placed a gentle hand on the back of my neck. He pulls me in and presses his lips roughly against mine and quickly pulls away before I have any time to recover from shock. He puts his lips to my ear and whispers, "Well, baby Mockingjay. You've left me no choice since you chose such a great roll for yourself." His words tickle my ear, even if they are dripping in ice. He affectionately holds the sides of my head and I feel him slip 1 small device into one of my ears. "Quiet."

"I'm just so glad you're here," I give a sigh of relief and try not to flinch away from his very touch. I make sure that the others can hear him and my 3 captors snicker amongst themselves.

He grins arrogantly down at me, talking so only I can hear him. "You seem exactly like a lover that I would have liked; always out looking for trouble, getting herself out of it _most _of the time..." He laughs scornfully. "You made one hell of a mess for me to clean up, babe." He says the last words loud enough for the others to hear, then Cameron's hand returns to the side of my head and he slips another device into my other ear. The second he is done he abruptly gets up to go stand amongst his people. One of them holds a silver briefcase, which Cameron motions for. The man gives it over without a word and Cameron tosses it over to Bulk. "I do believe you'll find everything in order."

Sparky, Squeak, and Bulk all gather around the briefcase greedily and open it.

Immediately afterward, they fall to the ground with blood streaming from their ears.

* * *

One of Cameron's bodyguards calmly crosses the room and closes the briefcase as Cameron personally drags me to my feet. "Come on, lover. Hurry along." He breathes into my ear and I jerk back in disgust.

"Don't touch me," I spit at him, pulling away from his grip. He simply laughs it off and wraps an arm around my waist, not letting go as I squirm in protest and disgust.

"Now, now, lover. I know that you've wanted this ever since you were so cruelly kidnapped." He pulls me in front of him and places his cold lips against mine before I have time to react. The kiss is cold with no passion in it- nothing more than pushing a lifeless object up against your lips- but somehow, it sucks the life out of me. I pull away from him and bat his arm from around my waist. He laughs cruelly and I begin to walk far ahead of him, not wanting to be anywhere near him as he says loudly, "Oh, come _on._ I know you liked it. You don't have to act like I've just slaughtered your entire family or something."

"I'd kill you before you got anywhere near them," I answer, fists clenched tightly.

"Oh, and how would you do that, exactly, Baby Mockingjay? You're on my turf, now. Besides, I would still beat you in a fight if I had one hand tied behind my back."

"That wouldn't exactly count if in your other hand you had a gun. You wouldn't let me have that sort of an advantage over you, considering the coward that you are."

Suddenly, he is by my side and he grabs me by the arm. He gazes down at me, his eyes dark with anger. "_What _did you just call me?"

"A coward," I over enunciate the words in his face, almost spitting venom at him. His fist clenches and he raises it slightly, as if to hit me. "What are you gonna do, hit me? Go ahead. I can't stop you," I gesture to my restraints that they left on me, and he lowers his fist. I begin to smile in triumph, but my victory is short lived as he grabs the back of my neck and knees me in the stomach.

"Don't _ever _call me that again."

"Don't _ever_ reproduce. You've been everywhere lately, so I'm pretty sure there are enough of you around." I sneer back at him, staring him down right up until he slaps me. "I hope you know that by now, I can barely even feel your tiny little slaps when my face is this swollen and throbbing already." Of course, that's an absolute lie. A breeze could probably make me whimper in pain right now. In fact, the only thing keeping me from blacking out right now is that I'm just too stubborn to let him win this way over me.

"I know your game, and trust me... Unlike your mother, you won't be winning."

"I may not come out winning in the end, but I'll be sure to follow in her footsteps and take you down with me," I snarl at his back. He just laughs dismissively over his shoulder and gestures to one of the guards with a flick of his wrist. The largest of the men starts towards me and I don't resist as he pushes me to the floor and kicks me roughly in the head. The blackout is welcome

* * *

_**I really don't deserve you guys. I've taken forever for this update, and you guys have been so patient and understanding in waiting for it.**_

_**To be honest, I've wrote a lot since my last update... Just not for this story. I've hit my 2nd block on that story though, and I finally decided that I should actually work on this for a change, and yea. I hope you guys enjoyed it, if you did add it to your alerts, favorite it, and review. Thanks!**_

_**(PS: Should I have a section of each chapter where I respond to you guys, just PM you back if you review, or what because I want to get a bit closer to you guys. You know, in as much of a non-creepy way as possible...)**_


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